[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1865 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 432
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1865
[Report No. 115-572, Part I]
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of
such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users
of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and
civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex
trafficking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2017
Mrs. Wagner (for herself, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New
York, Mr. Royce of California, Mrs. Roby, Mr. Kinzinger, and Ms.
Jenkins of Kansas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
February 20, 2018
Additional sponsors: Mr. Smucker, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr.
Fleischmann, Mr. Lance, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Roskam, Mr. Rouzer,
Ms. Moore, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Turner, Ms. Rosen, Mrs.
Hartzler, Mr. Evans, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Katko, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms.
Wilson of Florida, Mr. LaHood, Mr. Coffman, Mr. Luetkemeyer, Mr. Bishop
of Michigan, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Crist, Mr. Carbajal, Mrs. Comstock, Mr.
Rodney Davis of Illinois, Mr. Thomas J. Rooney of Florida, Mr. Graves
of Missouri, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. MacArthur, Mr.
Pittenger, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Young of Iowa, Mr. Walker, Mr. Walberg, Mr.
Harris, Mr. Messer, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Brat, Mr. Poliquin, Mr.
Valadao, Mrs. Mimi Walters of California, Mr. Gibbs, Ms. Herrera
Beutler, Mr. Long, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Payne, Ms. Bass, Ms. Eddie
Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Hanabusa, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mrs.
Lawrence, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr.
Hastings, Mr. Richmond, Mrs. Love, Mr. Clay, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Brown of
Maryland, Ms. Plaskett, Ms. Adams, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr.
Cleaver, Mr. Bost, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Hudson, Mrs. Handel, Mr. Cuellar,
Mr. Cole, Mr. Bilirakis, Mrs. Noem, Mrs. Brooks of Indiana, Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen, Mr. Ross, Mr. Kelly of Mississippi, Mr. Donovan, Ms. Kuster
of New Hampshire, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr.
Palmer, Mr. Davidson, Ms. Foxx, Mrs. Black, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Faso, Mr.
Rothfus, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Walorski, Mr. Reed, Mr.
Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Franks of
Arizona, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Rush, Mr. Meeks, Mr. O'Halleran, Mr. Johnson
of Louisiana, Mr. Posey, Mr. Jenkins of West Virginia, Mr. Gonzalez of
Texas, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Gene Green of
Texas, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Keating, Mr. Nolan, Ms.
Titus, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. Serrano, Mr.
DesJarlais, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Hultgren, Mrs.
Blackburn, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. King of
Iowa, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Olson, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Sessions,
Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Norton, Mr. Frelinghuysen,
Mr. Paulsen, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Brady of Texas,
Mr. Flores, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Hollingsworth, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Austin Scott
of Georgia, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Miss Rice of New York, Mr. Mullin,
Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Rice of South Carolina, Mr.
Williams, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Burgess,
Mr. Knight, Mr. Kustoff of Tennessee, Mr. Lucas, Ms. Velazquez, Mr.
Capuano, Mr. Culberson, Mr. Perlmutter, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr.
Costa, Mr. Calvert, and Mr. Yoho
Deleted sponsor: Mr. McNerney (added September 13, 2017; deleted
September 25, 2017 )
February 20, 2018
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
February 20, 2018
The Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April
3, 2017]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of
such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users
of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and
civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex
trafficking, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Allow States and Victims to Fight
Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 230; commonly known as the ``Communications Decency Act
of 1996'') was never intended to provide legal protection to
websites that unlawfully promote and facilitate prostitution
and contribute to sex trafficking;
(2) websites that promote and facilitate prostitution have
been reckless in allowing the sale of sex trafficking victims
and have done nothing to prevent the trafficking of children
and victims of force, fraud, and coercion; and
(3) clarification of such section is warranted to ensure
that such section does not provide such protection to such
websites.
SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF PROSTITUTION AND RECKLESS DISREGARD OF SEX
TRAFFICKING.
(a) Promotion of Prostitution.--Chapter 117 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2421 the following:
``Sec. 2421A. Promotion or facilitation of prostitution and reckless
disregard of sex trafficking
``(a) In General.--Whoever uses or operates a facility or means of
interstate or foreign commerce or attempts to do so with the intent to
promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person shall be fined
under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
``(b) Aggravated Violation.--Whoever uses or operates a facility or
means of interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to promote or
facilitate the prostitution of another person and--
``(1) promotes or facilitates the prostitution of 5 or more
persons; or
``(2) acts in reckless disregard of the fact that such
conduct contributed to sex trafficking, in violation of
1591(a),
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 25 years,
or both.
``(c) Civil Recovery.--Any person injured by reason of a violation
of section 2421A(b) may recover damages and reasonable attorneys' fees
in an action before any appropriate United States district court.
Consistent with section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 230), a defendant may be held liable, under this subsection,
where promotion or facilitation of prostitution activity includes
responsibility for the creation or development of all or part of the
information or content provided through any interactive computer
service.
``(d) Mandatory Restitution.--Notwithstanding sections 3663 or
3663A and in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties
authorized by law, the court shall order restitution for any offense
under this section.
``(e) Affirmative Defense.--It shall be an affirmative defense to a
charge of violating subsection (a) where the defendant proves, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the promotion or facilitation of
prostitution is legal in the jurisdiction where the promotion or
facilitation was targeted.''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for such chapter is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2421 the
following:
``2421A. Promotion or facilitation of prostitution and reckless
disregard of sex trafficking.''.
SEC. 4. COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT.
Section 230(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) No effect on state laws conforming to 18 u.s.c.
1591(a) or 2421a.--Nothing in this section shall be construed
to impair or limit any charge in a criminal prosecution brought
under State law--
``(A) if the conduct underlying the charge
constitutes a violation of section 2421A of title 18,
United States Code, and promotion or facilitation of
prostitution is illegal in the jurisdiction where the
defendant's promotion or facilitation of prostitution
was targeted; or
``(B) if the conduct underlying the charge
constitutes a violation of section 1591(a) of title 18,
United States Code.''.
SEC. 5. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be
construed to limit or preempt any civil action or criminal prosecution
under Federal law or State law (including State statutory law and State
common law) filed before or after the day before the date of enactment
of this Act that was not limited or preempted by section 230 of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), as such section was in
effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 432
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1865
[Report No. 115-572, Part I]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of
such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users
of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and
civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex
trafficking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
February 20, 2018
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
February 20, 2018
The Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed