Why Thorn Supports the STOP CSAM Act

Today, the scale of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online is staggering. In 2025 alone, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received over 21 million reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation, including more than 61.8 million images, videos, and related files. The misuse of generative AI to sexually exploit children is also growing – in 2025, Thorn’s research found that 1 in 6 (17%) young people personally knew someone who had been the victim, creator, or sharer of a deepfake nude of a child.

As child sexual abuse and exploitation continues to evolve in online spaces, the systems meant to protect children must evolve with it. Policymakers play a critical role in ensuring that protections for children keep pace. We are proud to support the STOP CSAM Act, a comprehensive, bipartisan legislative response to the online sexual exploitation and abuse of children. Thorn stands alongside over 100 child safety organizations and survivor advocates in urging Congress to advance the STOP CSAM Act this year. 

Key Components of the STOP CSAM Act:

The STOP CSAM Act would strengthen the response to the online sexual exploitation and abuse of children by:

1. Strengthening CyberTipline reporting requirements to ensure online platforms are including information that is critical for law enforcement investigations.
2. Requiring transparency from large online platforms about child sexual exploitation and related safety efforts on their platform. 
3. Empowering survivors to seek justice through civil lawsuits against online platforms that promote or aid in their sexual exploitation.
4. Protecting victims when participating in federal court proceedings and throughout the financial restitution process.

Strengthening CyberTipline reporting requirements: The STOP CSAM Act would require online platforms to include several basic categories of information in their reports to NCMEC’s CyberTipline, such as user information, relevant files, and an indication of whether the apparent CSAM was created or modified using AI. These expanded reporting requirements would ensure that online providers are submitting quality reports that are actionable for law enforcement to NCMEC’s CyberTipline.

Requiring Transparency: The STOP CSAM Act would require large online platforms to submit annual transparency reports focused on their CyberTipline reporting and relevant safety by design efforts. These reports would provide critical industry-wide transparency which could inform broader child safety efforts. 

Empowering Survivors: The STOP CSAM Act would give victims of child sexual exploitation the ability to bring civil lawsuits against online platforms that promoted or aided in their sexual exploitation. This new legal avenue would open up a critical pathway for justice that has historically been unavailable for victims.

Protecting Victims: The STOP CSAM Act would strengthen the privacy protections available for child victims and witnesses participating in federal criminal proceedings to ensure they are being protected. Additionally, the legislation would allow courts to appoint a trustee when necessary to manage restitution payments for certain child victims. 

What’s Next?

Thorn is grateful for the leadership of Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Representative Barry Moore (R-AL-02), and Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29) on this important legislation. We eagerly await continued progress in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to ensure that the important, and necessary, protections in the STOP CSAM Act become federal law this year. 

→ Learn more about the STOP CSAM Act, including its current status in both chambers and its Senate and House co-sponsors here and here, respectively. To get involved, find your local Members of Congress here.