The Senate just passed FOSTA-SESTA, a bill aimed at combating online sex trafficking.
The bill was introduced by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. It passed the House overwhelmingly, then passed the Senate today by 97-2.
The bill would specifically amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). That's the portion of the CDA that says websites can't be held legally liable for content placed on their site by third parties.
Why is this all important? Because the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that 70% of the children they work with who've been sex trafficked, were sold on a site called Backpage.com. Pimps use the site to place ads. A U.S. Senate Subcommittee report projects that Backpage could make as much as $250 million dollars in 2019.
Senator Portman said ,“Today’s vote is a victory for trafficking survivors and a victory for our efforts to help stop the selling of women and children online. No one thought that we could get this done, but with the commitment of an overwhelming group of bipartisan colleagues and a broad-based coalition of support, we were able to pass legislation that will ensure justice for trafficking victims and help us combat this evil crime."
The bill is not without its detractors. Internet freedom advocates, tech industry leaders and sex workers organizations don't support it.
Sex workers say it would create new penalties for online platforms that currently allow them to screen clients, and share info about "bad" clients with each other, thus making them less safe.
The next step for the bill is President Trump's desk for signature.
