Faith & Freedom Celebrates Passage of “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act”

Washington, DC – The Faith & Freedom Coalition celebrates passage today by the U.S. Senate of one of our top legislative priorities, the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” to give federal, state, and local law enforcement the necessary tools to hold child sex traffickers accountable and allow justice for victims of the online sex trade. The bill passed the U.S. House last month and President Trump is expected to sign it into law.

“Faith & Freedom has worked tirelessly in support of the ‘Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act’ which is the most important and impactful federal legislation ever passed in the fight to stop the online marketplaces where over 100,000 of our most vulnerable citizens are bought and sold for sex every year,” said Executive Director Timothy Head. “Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Ann Wagner and Sen. Rob Portman and other bipartisan leaders in the House and Senate, law enforcement will now have the necessary tools to fight predators who buy and sell children for sex and gives states and victims the power to sue websites that facilitate human trafficking.”

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing business of organized crime in the U.S., making nearly $32 billion a year for criminals while destroying tens of thousands of lives. Currently, there are more than 100,000 children in America who are victims of human trafficking.

The legislation updates Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 which has been utilized by technology platforms that allow and even encourage prostitution and child sex trafficking to avoid prosecution and civil action.

“Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has been used for years to block law enforcement and victims from holding human traffickers and websites accountable,” said Head. “This legislation will allow federal prosecutors to use state sex trafficking laws and promotion of prostitution laws to prosecute websites who have operated with immunity under Section 230 while also creating a new federal crime specifically designed for bad acting websites now engaged in the online sex trade.”

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