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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, earlier this week, Apple unveiled its latest innovation, the Vision Pro. It is a mixed-reality headset that the company claims will blend together our virtual and physical worlds. Now, if you have seen this device, you might think it looks like an overpriced pair of ski goggles, but the implications for this technology are remarkable.

Think about how far we have come in a few short decades. Thirty years ago, hardly anyone owned a cell phone, and even fewer were familiar with the concept of the World Wide Web; but, since then, everything has changed. We have gone from clunky desktop computers to smart phones and smart watches and now a headset that will transform your living room into a virtual playground--a virtual playground. Think about that. You can share it with just about anyone in the world--anyone--even potential sexual predators.

And therein lies the problem. In the face of an unprecedented wave of technological innovation, one thing has remained the same: Our Nation's online safety laws are stuck in the last century. Over the past three decades, Congress has given tech and social media companies free rein to police themselves, and they have failed. Now our children are paying the price for these failures. It is time for Congress to step up and protect them.

Today, more than one out of three teenagers say they use social media ``almost constantly.'' That is by design. Big Tech giants and online platforms, powered by advanced algorithms, are capturing the minds and eyeballs of our kids and grandkids. And the more our children scroll, the more these platforms rake in profits.

Now, of course, social media can benefit everyone, including young people. They can learn new skills and hobbies and really connect with valuable friends. But as most parents, grandparents, and public health experts will tell you, social media has a dark side.

Last month, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an extraordinary warning--the first of its kind--to parents across America. Dr. Murthy said that social media can ``have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.'' From anxiety and depression to body image issues, social media is exacerbating the youth mental health crisis in America.

But there is another far more disturbing part of this story because, when it comes to online platforms like Instagram or TikTok, only a few taps and clicks stand between our children and online predators who hope to exploit them. Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published a report on what they described as a ``vast pedophile network'' that has been thriving on Instagram for years--years. According to the report, Instagram not only hosts photos and videos of children being sexually exploited; it actively promotes the despicable content to other users.

Predators even connect with one another through a set of grotesque hash tags that I will not repeat on the Senate floor, and the worst of these predators try to target new, unsuspecting victims and persuade them to share explicit images of themselves.

Let me tell you about one of the victims. His name was James Woods. Last year James, who, at 17, was getting ready to graduate from high school, died by suicide after being targeted in a scheme known as ``sextortion.'' In James' case, he was contacted through Instagram by a user claiming to be a young woman. The conversation quickly turned sexual, and the user asked James to share explicit images of himself. Unfortunately, he complied.

Moments later, he received another message, this time with a threat: Send me $6,000, or else those images will be sent to everyone you know.

James was terrified. He tried to reason with this predator by sending him a $100 gift card, but the threats continued. He received 200 messages in a single day, some threatening to hurt him or kill his family. One message read: ``You might as well end it now.''

Soon after, James' father arrived home and discovered his son's lifeless body. James had his entire life ahead of him. He was a star on the school track team. He hoped to pursue a career in law enforcement. But now he is gone.

You would think that Instagram, the platform through which James was exploited, would bear some responsibility--some responsibility--for this horrifying tragedy. After all, this predator used Instagram to contact James, solicit explicit images, and then threaten his life. But you would be wrong. Under our existing laws of the United States-- namely, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, written nearly 30 years ago--platforms like Instagram have near total immunity from being held legally accountable for this type of atrocity. That has to change.

Earlier this year, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I pledged that we would take vigorous action to hold Big Tech accountable and stop the online exploitation of children. As part of this effort, I introduced a bill, the Stop CSAM Act. CSAM stands for ``child sexual abuse material.''

This legislation would create a civil remedy against any online platform that facilitates the exchange of child sexual abuse materials. In other words, if the Stop CSAM Act were law today, James' parents would be able to take legal action against Instagram for failing to fulfill their basic responsibility to protect their customers.

Importantly, my Stop CSAM Act is one of five pieces of legislation that has been reported out of the Judiciary Committee during this Congress to stop the exploitation of children online. Every single one of these pieces of legislation was reported from the Senate Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote--all five.

Mr. President, you personally, and my colleagues, take a look at the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That is the most amazing display of political extremes--right and left and center, for that matter--that you will find in Congress. All members of the committee voted in favor of these five pieces of legislation to protect our kids from what is going on on the cell phones across America.

We had testimony from parents--one sad story after another of children who, because of sextortion, bullying, harassment, goading, took their own lives. The mothers sat in the front row, each holding a color photo, a school photo, of their kids. With tears in their eyes, they begged us to do something to protect these kids and to protect America from this exploitation.

When I read about tragedies like the death of James Woods, it is clear: We shouldn't waste another minute. I believe that we should call this measure to the floor of the Senate immediately. There is no reason to wait. In fact, there is a danger if we do.

Let's see if the unanimous opinion of the Senate Judiciary Committee--Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals--can bring us to a bipartisan conclusion now. Wouldn't the American people be happy to hear that, that finally the Senate came together on a bipartisan basis to protect innocent children from sexploitation, from these child sexual abuse materials, and from the sort of situation that James Woods faced, the harassment, with no accountability for the social media platform?

We need to move quickly to do this. There is no excuse. Let's not wait on some other measure. These are five good, strong bills that will say to the social media industry once and for all: You bear responsibility for what goes on. And when you are responsible for it, you can be held accountable in a court of law.

Parents and victims can't do this on their own. They have learned that over and over. They need someone to help, and that would be the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and the President. I hope every Member of the Senate will join us in protecting our kids from this new world of threats.

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