ACLU and civil-rights lawyers oppose STOP CSAM recklessness liability

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STOP CSAM supporters seek NDAA passage; civil-liberties groups objected in 2025 over encryption

Supporters of the STOP CSAM Act say survivors need stronger remedies against platforms that promote or facilitate online sexual exploitation. Senator Josh Hawley's office said on July 14, 2026 that he had negotiated the bill's inclusion in the Senate manager's amendment to the annual defense authorization bill. More than 100 advocacy groups urged congressional leaders on October 28 to keep it in the final bill. Roll Call reported on October 29 that the House-passed version does not include the language. Civil-liberties organizations opposed S. 1829 in 2025. A June 11 coalition letter addressed the bill as reintroduced, and a November 18 letter from the ACLU and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law addressed it after the Judiciary Committee reported it. Both argued that its recklessness liability standard and narrow encryption protections would push platforms away from encrypted services. The STOP CSAM subtitle in Senate amendment 6691, the manager's package Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker submitted on July 14, 2026, repeats the liability and encryption provisions of S. 1829 as reported word for word. Neither letter analyzed that package, and we could not locate a published civil-liberties response to it.