,,ii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #dihc ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,december #i1 #bjbj,mr4 ,hawley introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to amend chapter #gg of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code1 to combat human trafficking and to strengthen civil remedies for survivors4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,survivors of ,human ,trafficking ,fight ,back ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,visual depictions of sex acts obtained by coercion or deception ,section #aeia of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 by striking subsection 7e77#b7 each place it appears and inserting subsection 7g77#b72 7#b7 by redesignating subsection 7e7 as subsection 7g72 7#c7 by inserting after subsection 7d7 the following3 7e7 7#a7 7,a7 ,whoever knowingly distributes1 or possesses with the intent to distribute1 in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or using a means of interstate or foreign commerce 7including the internet71 a visual depiction of a sex act by another person who is not less than #ah years of age1 knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the participation of that person in the sex act was induced by fraud1 force1 threats of force1 deception1 or coercion described in subsection 7g77#b71 or any combination of such means1 shall be punished as provided in paragraph 7#d74 7,b7 ,whoever knowingly distributes1 or possesses with the intent to distribute1 in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or using a means of interstate or foreign commerce 7including the internet71 a visual depiction of a sex act by another person or a visual depiction of another person the production of which involved conduct that would violate section #ahja7;a71 knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the person did not consent to the distribution of the visual depiction1 shall be punished as provided in paragraph 7#d74 7#b7 ,nothing in paragraph 7#a7 shall be construed to limit the ability to prosecute under subsection 7a7 of this section or chapter #aaj an offense involving a victim of an offense described in paragraph 7#a7 of this subsection who is less than #ah years of age4 7#c7 ,paragraph 7#a7 shall not apply to any distribution made in the public interest1 including distributions that constitute a matter of public concern or distributions that are made as part of a lawful1 common practice1 such as legal proceedings1 reports to law enforcement1 or medical treatment4 7#d7 ,whoever violates paragraph 7#a7 shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for any term of years not less than #e4 7#e7 7,a7 7i7 ,any person who operates or provides an internet website1 web service1 or web application that displays visual depictions of sex acts shall-- 7,i7 provide a notice process described in subparagraph 7,b7 for individuals to make the person aware that the person is distributing content created in violation of this section2 and 7,,ii7 designate an agent of the person to receive notice under such a notice process and make available on the website1 web service1 or web application operated or provided by the person1 in a location accessible to the public1 the name1 address1 phone number1 and electronic mail address of the agent4 7ii7 ,any person who violates subclause 7,i7 or 7,,ii7 of clause 7i7 shall be punished as provided in subparagraph 7,c74 7,b7 ,a notice process described in this subparagraph is an operation that readily enables a person depicted or authorized representative of the person depicted to provide to the designated agent substantially the following3 7i7 ,identification of the visual depiction or depictions claimed to include a sex act1 or for which the production is claimed to involved conduct that would violate section #ahja7;a71 that meets the requirements of paragraph 7#a74 7ii7 ,identification of the sex act in the visual depiction1 or the portion of the visual depiction the production of which involved conduct that would violate section #ahja7;a71 that meets the requirements of paragraph 7#a74 7iii7 ,information reasonably sufficient to permit the person receiving the notice to contact the person depicted or authorized representative of that person1 such as an address1 telephone number1 or electronic mail address4 7iv7 ,a brief statement-- 7,i7 that the person depicted or authorized representative of that person has a good faith belief that the visual depiction includes a sex act involving the person depicted1 or the production of the visual depiction involved conduct that would violate section #ahja7;a71 that meets the requirements of paragraph 7#a72 and 7,,ii7 why the person depicted or authorized representative of that person has that belief4 7,c7 ,whoever violates subparagraph 7,a7 shall be fined under this title1 imprisoned for not more than #c years1 or both4 7,d7 ,a person operating or providing an internet website1 web service1 or web application shall not be liable to any other person for any claim based on the operator or provider's good faith disabling of access to1 or removal of1 material the operator or provider believes includes a sex act1 or believes the production of which involved conduct that would violate section #ahja7;a71 meeting the requirements of paragraph 7#a74 7#f7 ,it shall not be a defense to an alleged violation of paragraph 7#a7 that a person did not receive notice under the notice process described in paragraph 7#e77;,b74 7#g7 ,for purposes of this subsection1 the term sex act means-- 7,a7 sexually explicit conduct1 as defined in section #bbef7b77;,a72 7,b7 a sexual act1 as defined in section #bbdf7b72 and 7,c7 the lascivious exhibition of the post-pubescent female nipple or gametes on the body4 7f7 7#a7 ,an individual who is aggrieved of a violation of subsection 7e77#a7 may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the ,united ,states seeking appropriate relief4 7#b7 ,whoever violates the civil law of a ,state1 territory1 or ,indian ,tribe by coercing an individual into participating in a sex act shall be liable under ,federal law for such a violation and subject to the same civil remedies that would be available under ,state1 territorial1 or ,tribal law to the party injured if-- 7,a7 the sex act is a commercial sex act that occurred in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce2 or 7,b7 a visual depiction of the sex act is distributed by the defendant in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or using a means of interstate or foreign commerce 7including the internet71 knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the individual was coerced into participating in the sex act depicted4 7#c7 ,in this subsection-- 7,a7 the terms coercing an individual into participating in a sex act and coerced into participating in a sex act1 with respect to an individual1 means the individual was induced by force1 threats of force1 fraud1 deception1 or coercion 7as those terms are defined under the law of the applicable ,state1 territory1 or ,tribe7 to participate in a sex act2 and 7,b7 the term sex act has the meaning given that term in subsection 7e74 2 and 7#d7 in subsection 7g71 as so redesignated-- 7,a7 by redesignating paragraphs 7#d71 7#e71 and 7#f7 as paragraphs 7#e71 7#f71 and 7#g71 respectively2 and 7,b7 by inserting after paragraph 7#c7 the following3 7#d7 ,the term deception means intentionally misleading a participant in a sex act about whether a visual depiction of the sex act will be created or about whether or how broadly a visual depiction will be distributed4 4 #c4 ,severability ,if any provision of this ,act or any amendment made by this ,act1 or any application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance1 is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful1 the remainder of the provisions of this ,act and the amendments made by this ,act1 and the application of the provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance1 shall not be affected4