![handle is hein.crs/goveflt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______
* Research Service
~~~ ~inforng the legis!ative debate since 1914 __________________
The Fourth Amendment and the Internet:
Legal Limits on Digital Searches for Child
Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
March 24, 2022
Various federal statutes criminalize the production, distribution, solicitation, and possession of child
pornography, defined in part as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor.
Over time, Congress has sought to augment the enforcement of these provisions and limit the
dissemination of such material online in several ways. Among other things, federal law requires covered
interactive computer service (ICS) providers, such as companies like Google and Meta, to report
apparent violation[s] of the statutes that involve child pornography to the CyberTipline operated by the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a private, nonprofit organization that
receives government funding. NCMEC refers to the material subject to reporting under the statute as
Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), a term it views as most accurately reflect[ing] what is depicted-
the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. NCMEC is required by federal law to make these provider
reports available to law enforcement agencies, and NCMEC receives legal protection from any claims
arising from the performance of its CyberTipline responsibilities and other actions, with certain
exceptions.
Currently, nothing in federal law requires providers to monitor their services or content for CSAM in the
first instance. Under the law, although providers must report CSAM to NCMEC, which must then make
the reports available to law enforcement, providers are not obligated to affirmatively search, screen, or
scan for these violations. Nevertheless, many providers opt to voluntarily detect, remove, and report
CSAM on their platforms. Against the backdrop of an increase in reports to NCMEC of suspected online
child sexual exploitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation in the 117th Congress would seek to
bolster the CSAM reporting regime by establishing a commission to promulgate voluntary best practices
for providers, among other things, as well as to apply similar reporting frameworks to a broader set of
criminal acts.
Although CSAM is both illegal by statute and unprotected under the First Amendment's Free Speech
Clause, identifying and reporting CSAM nonetheless poses policy and legal hurdles. At least one major
player in the effort to remove online CSAM, Apple, has faced backlash from privacy advocates over a
reportedly delayed plan to scan iCloud-stored photos on a user's device for CSAM. Additionally, federal
Congressional Research Service
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