S. 1829, STOP CSAM Act of 2025

Bill Summary

S. 1829 would authorize appropriations to appoint guardians ad litem (attorneys and social workers who protect child victims throughout court proceedings) and trustees who facilitate restitution payments owed to child victims.

The bill would expand existing requirements for interactive computer service providers (such as Internet service providers, social media companies, and municipal broadband providers) to report online exploitation of children to the CyberTipline, which is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The bill also would require large providers to report annually to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on efforts to combat the online proliferation of child sexual abuse material. S. 1829 would increase existing criminal penalties and create new criminal and civil penalties for failure to comply with the reporting requirements.

S. 1829 would create new criminal penalties for providers who host or store child pornography on their platforms. Lastly, the bill would expand liability in federal civil court for providers who promote or abet the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.

Estimated Federal Cost

The estimated budgetary effect of S. 1829 is shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 370 (commerce and housing credit) and 750 (administration of justice).

Basis of Estimate

CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted by the end of 2025 and that the specified and estimated amounts will be provided each year.

Spending Subject to Appropriation

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1829 would cost $161 million over the 2026-2030 period, assuming appropriation of the authorized and estimated amounts.

Expansion of Court Services for Child Victims and Witnesses. S. 1829would authorize the appropriation of $25 million annually for courts to cover the costs of compensating guardians ad litem to accompany child victims throughout court proceedings, work with other professionals involved in a case, and ensure the children’s well-being outside the home. The bill also would authorize the appropriation of $15 million annually for federal courts to appoint trustees to manage restitution payments for child victims of exploitation, trafficking,sexual assault, and crimes of violence. CBO expects that, in addition to using the funds to compensate those professionals, the courts would fund outreach, training, and education activities to expand the number of guardians and trustees available to provide services and improve the quality of care provided to child victims.

Using information about convictions in recent years for crimes involving sexual offenses against minors and compensation rates for professionals and other court employees who assist those victims, CBO estimates that implementing those provisions would cost $134 million over the 2026-2030 period.

Report Processing. Beginning the second year after enactment, S. 1829 would require large interactive computer service providers and platforms to report annually to the FTC and DOJ about any report submitted to the CyberTipline and any actions taken regarding child sexual exploitation and abuse related to a service or platform. Providers also would be required to detail their policies and efforts to address exploitation and abuse.

Using information from the FTC and DOJ, CBO estimates that implementing the report-processing provision would cost $23 million over the 2026-2030 period. CBO expects that in 2026, each agency would need an additional three employees to establish the system and issue guidance to providers and platforms. CBO expects that starting in 2027, each agency would need 10 employees to process and publish reports and provide continuing guidance. CBO expects implementing those requirements would cost $18 million over the 2026-2030 period. Additionally, CBO estimates that it would cost $1 million annually over the same period to establish, operate, and maintain a new electronic filing system to receive the annual reports.

CyberTipline Updates. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a nonprofit organization that receives funding from DOJ annually to operate the CyberTipline. In 2024, DOJ allocated $43 million to the organization. Using information from the center, CBO expects that the bill’s requirements would increase the amount of information provided in each report submitted to the CyberTipline. CBO estimates that the cost to DOJ for personnel and storage of data would be $4 million over the 2026-2030 period.

Direct Spending and Revenues

S. 1829 would modify existing criminal penalties and create new criminal and civil penalties for providers who fail to comply with reporting requirements and host child sexual abuse material. Criminal and civil fines are recorded in the budget as revenues. Criminal fines are deposited into the Crime Victims Fund and later spent without further appropriation. Generally, civil fines are returned to the Treasury and are not available for spending without further appropriation. S. 1829 would require all civil and criminal fines collected under the bill to be deposited into the Child Pornography Victims Reserve, which is within the Crime Victims Fund.

S. 1829 also would increase the amount that federal courts receive in fees, which are recorded in the budget as revenues.

CBO estimates that enacting the provisions of S. 1829 related to fines, penalties, and fees would increase both revenues and direct spending by less than $500,000 over the 2026-2035 period.

Failure to Report Instances of Online Exploitation. S. 1829 would create new criminal and civil penalties for interactive computer service providers who fail to report instances of online child exploitation within 60 days, fail to preserve reports for one year after submission, or omit required information.

Failure to Meet Annual Reporting Requirements. S. 1829 would require large providers —those with more than 1 million monthly subscribers and $50 million in annual revenues—to report annually to the FTC and DOJ regarding the number of reports they submit to the CyberTipline and on their efforts to combat the posting of prohibited materials. The bill would create new civil penalties for failure to submit such reports.

Hosting Prohibited Materials. S. 1829 would create new criminal penalties for providers who intentionally host or store child pornography or knowingly facilitate the sexual exploitation of children.

Curtailing Immunity from Federal Civil Lawsuits. With some exceptions, providers currently cannot be held liable for content created by users. S. 1829 would expand the number and type of violations for which those entities’ immunity does not apply. CBO expects that this provision would increase the number of federal civil lawsuits filed against providers and would increase collections of filing fees. Those fees are recorded in the budget as revenues and can be spent by the courts without further appropriation.

Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase direct spending and revenues by less than $500,000 in every year and over the 2026-2035 period.

Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1829 would not significantly increase net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036.

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1829 would not increase on‑budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036.

Mandates

S. 1829 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) on public and private providers of interactive computer services.

The bill would expand an existing duty for providers (such as social media platforms and municipal broadband providers) to report instances of child pornography or exploitation to the CyberTipline. The bill also would require large providers to submit an annual report to the FTC and DOJ summarizing the characteristics of the violations reported to the CyberTipline.

The bill would narrowly expand existing duties; therefore, CBO estimates that the aggregate cost of the mandates would fall below the annual intergovernmental and private-sector thresholds established in UMRA ($103 million and $206 million in 2025, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).

Estimate Prepared By

Federal Costs:

Jeremy Crimm (for Department of Justice) 
David Hughes (for Federal Trade Commission)
Jon Sperl (for the judiciary)

Mandates: Erich Dvorak

Estimate Reviewed By

Justin Humphrey
Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit

Kathleen FitzGerald 
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

H. Samuel Papenfuss 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

Estimate Approved By