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
115th Congress (2017–2019)
This bill was introduced on November 8, 2017, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
70 Cosponsors (43 Republicans, 27 Democrats)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Anti-Trafficking Advocates, Law Enforcement, Tech Praise Senate Passage of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act”
—
Sen. Robert “Rob” Portman [R-OH]
(Sponsor)
on Mar 21, 2018
“President Signs Heller-Backed Bill to Stop Online Sex Trafficking in Nevada”
—
Sen. Dean Heller [R-NV, 2011-2018]
(Co-sponsor)
on Apr 11, 2018
“Maloney Praises Senate Passage of Bill to Combat Online Sex Trafficking”
—
Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY12]
on Mar 21, 2018
History
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Aug 1, 2017
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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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Sep 19, 2017
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Considered by Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A committee held a hearing or business meeting about the bill.
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Nov 8, 2017
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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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Jan 10, 2018
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Reported by Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
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. |
S. 1693 (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 S. 1693. 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.
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“S. 1693 — 115th Congress: Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017.” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. December 1, 2021 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s1693>
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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.
