WASHINGTON — Today, Senators Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) released the Holding Sexual Predators and Online Enablers Accountable Act, a bill which would require stronger punishments for convicted child sexual predators and their facilitators as well as create criminal penalties for online platforms which knowingly enable the sexual exploitation of children.

Most notably, the bill would also strip Section 230 civil immunity from online platforms which are found to “willfully or recklessly promote or facilitate child exploitation.” This aligns with the policy proposed by American Principles Project (APP) in its blueprint released earlier this year: “Protecting Free Speech and Defending Kids: A Proposal to Amend Section 230.”

In response, Jon Schweppe, APP’s director of policy and government affairs, released the following statement praising the legislation:

The question of what to do about Section 230 is often controversial and partisan, but on this there is broad bipartisan agreement: websites that knowingly facilitate or promote child exploitation should be held accountable for their actions and should not receive any sort of legal immunity. This bill is a common sense fix to a broken law, and we at APP are proud to endorse it.

To schedule an interview with an APP policy expert, contact Paul Dupont at (o) 202-503-2010 or pdupont@americanprinciplesproject.org.