Protecting Americans From Rampant Forms of Online Sexual Harassment

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to underscore the pressing need to protect Americans from rampant forms of online sexual harassment.

With the widespread adoption of social media, dating apps, and other technologies, we are seeing a concerning rise in inappropriate online behavior that impacts users, including our own children.

For too long, Congress has failed to pass legislation that keeps up with the rapidly evolving digital landscape and the new challenges posed by these developments.

In particular, users--men, women, and children--are facing concerningly high rates of cyberflashing.

Cyberflashing can include transferal of sexually explicit images, videos, and pictures without consent via social media, messaging apps, WiFi, Bluetooth, and even AirDrop.

The rise in cyberflashing affects everyone, including everyday users, celebrities, and children.

Over half of women between the ages of 18 and 29 have received an explicit image they never asked for, and overall, 32 percent of women and 30 percent of men have received unsolicited explicit images. Celebrities including Keke Palmer and Chrishell Stause, have also dealt with cyberflashing.

Most concerning, cyberflashing is impacting our children, with a recent study estimating that 76 percent of girls aged 12 to 18 years old have been exposed to unsolicited nude images.

These issues are further exacerbated by the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, which is giving rise to unregulated deepfakes, personal image hacking, and more.

The Stanford Internet Observatory and Thorn found that AI technologies exacerbate online sexual exploitation and contribute to the creation of child sexual abuse material.

As a mother of two children, I am fighting to address these issues and protect users from unwanted, nonconsensual, and inappropriate sexual behavior. If someone flashed you on the street, they would be arrested, but if they flash you through your phone, nothing happens.

Thanks to my work as a State legislator, it is illegal to send unsolicited nude photos in Virginia as of January 1, 2022. Now in Congress, I am continuing those efforts to make it illegal nationwide by introducing the Curbing Online Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Nudity Transfers Act, or the CONSENT Act.

I am proud that this is a bipartisan, bicameral bill with Congressman Nathaniel Moran of Texas and Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Steve Daines of Montana.

The CONSENT Act ensures a private right of action against individuals who knowingly send unsolicited, nonconsensual sexually explicit visual images, whether they are unaltered or manipulated by machine learning or AI.

It allows an individual to obtain either statutory damages of up to $500 or compensatory damages for emotional distress, reimbursement for reasonable attorney fees, and a temporary restraining order to cease receiving sexually explicit images from the sender. This legislation also safeguards the privacy of minors by empowering legal guardians to bring a civil action on their behalf and elect to use the plaintiff's initials in all further court proceedings.

I am grateful that the CONSENT Act enjoys a wide coalition of support. This bipartisan legislation is endorsed by the dating app Bumble, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Organization for Women, the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women, the National Women's Political Caucus, and the Richmond YWCA.

The CONSENT Act will address the privacy and safety concerns of users and help ensure individuals have legal recourse against these troubling situations.

I look forward to advocating for this legislation this Congress and urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it and protect America's online users and our children from cyberflashing.

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