New child protection online legislation in the USA

Democratic lawmakers in the USA have introduced the legislation the ‘Invest in Child Safety Act‘ to protect children online.

The legislation proposes to increase the number of agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) investigating child exploitation and obscenity; doubling funding for the Justice Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; mandating technology companies to extend the duration to secure and store evidence of potential child sexual abuse for better prosecution of older cases and establish an office within the executive branch to direct the federal government’s response to child exploitation cases. 

The bill has been supported by David Kaye, the special rapporteur on Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression for the UN and several children’s organisations have supported the bill, including: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Children’s Alliance, the Child’s Welfare League of America, and the Family Online Safety Institute.