[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S3530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         STOP CSAM ACT OF 2025

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, child sexual abuse materials are a toxic 
plague on the internet. Congress should act as soon as possible to give 
law enforcement officials the resources they need to find and prosecute 
criminals responsible for exploiting children and spreading vile abuse 
materials online. In addition, Congress should act as soon as possible 
to provide robust resources that help prevent children from becoming 
victims in the first place.
  However, instead of focusing on stopping online predators, S. 1829, 
the STOP CSAM Act, weakens the single strongest technology protecting 
children and families online: strong encryption. The bill explicitly 
allows courts to punish companies that offer strong encryption. It will 
make it easier to punish sites that use encryption to secure private 
conversations and personal devices. It will also encourage scanning of 
content on users' phones or computers, before information is sent over 
the internet, which has the same consequences as breaking encryption.
  Weakening encryption is probably the best gift you could give to the 
predators and creeps who want to stalk and spy on children. Sexual 
predators will have a far easier time stealing and extorting 
photographs of children, tracking their phones, and spying on their 
private messages once encryption is breached. Doing so threatens the 
privacy and security of every single law-abiding American.
  Last Congress, I made progress with the bill's sponsors to address 
some of these concerns. Indeed, I compromised on a version of this bill 
and had agreed to remove my hold to let that version pass by unanimous 
consent. It is unfortunate that the sponsors have chosen to abandon 
those efforts and instead advance a dangerous bill that makes internet 
users unsafe. However, I remain open to revisiting those conversations.
  For these reasons, I will object to any unanimous consent agreement 
to take up or pass the STOP CSAM Act of 2025.

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