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H.R. 1865 (115th): Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017

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About the bill

A new bill could become the first law to apply criminal penalties to website owners due to posts of that site’s users — or so Silicon Valley and tech advocates fear.

Context and what the bill does

Ever since a 1996 law, no internet website or company can be penalized for content a user posts. That’s why Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Reddit can’t be sued when anybody uses their platform to post hate speech or advocations of violence or terrorism.

The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act would open a crack in that prohibition. The bill would allow the government to prosecute websites which knowingly help or promote sex trafficking, and also allow users to sue those websites.

The word “knowingly” is key there, as the legislation was sparked by …

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor Ann Wagner

Ann Wagner

Sponsor. Representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district. Republican.

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Last Updated: Mar 23, 2018
Length: 4 pages
Introduced
Apr 3, 2017
115th Congress (2017–2019)
Status

Enacted — Signed by the President on Apr 11, 2018

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on April 11, 2018.

Law
Pub.L. 115-164
Cosponsors

174 Cosponsors (114 Republicans, 60 Democrats)

Source
Congress.gov
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History

Apr 3, 2017
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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Nov 30, 2017
 
Considered by Communications and Technology

A committee held a hearing or business meeting about the bill.

Dec 12, 2017
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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Feb 20, 2018
 
Reported by House Committee on the Judiciary

A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions.

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Feb 27, 2018
 
Passed House (Senate next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next.

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Mar 21, 2018
 
Passed Senate

The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill.

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Apr 11, 2018
 
Enacted — Signed by the President

The President signed the bill and it became law.

H.R. 1865 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 1865. This is the one from the 115th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

“H.R. 1865 — 115th Congress: Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017.” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. September 30, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr1865>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.