Josh Hawley introduces legislation that holds big tech liable for child pornography

United States Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has sponsored a bill that would hold technology companies legally liable for possession of child pornography on their websites.

Joining Hawley is Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who is co-sponsoring the bi-partisan proposal. 

Hawley, who has been fighting to increase penalities for possession of child pornography over the past few years, set differences aside after battling it out with Durbin during the confirmation hearings of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and co-sponsored the bill which unanimously cleared the Judiciary Committee last week, St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.

The bill, otherwise known as the Strengthening Transparency and Obligation to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment (STOP CSAM) Act, would strip tech companies of legal immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which broadly protects social media platforms from being sued for the material people post to their sites, according to The Hill.