Press Releases

Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Van Drew and Congresswoman Dean (PA-4), joined by a bipartisan group of colleagues, reintroduced the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act. This critical bill addresses the growing threat of online exploitation by strengthening existing laws to hold offenders accountable for image-based attacks.

"As technology advances, so do the ways in which bad actors exploit children and vulnerable adults," said Congressman Van Drew (NJ-02). "Predators are using intimate images as weapons, threatening to share them without consent and taking advantage of their victims' fear. Our current laws have not kept pace with these evolving threats, allowing perpetrators to escape justice far too often. The SHIELD Act will strengthen our existing laws, ensuring those who exploit others for personal gain are held responsible for their actions."

"Sharing someone else's private images online, without consent, is predatory behavior that causes grave reputational, psychological, and social harm. It should be prosecuted," Congresswoman Dean (PA-4) said. "People deserve protection from this disturbing privacy violation. To do that, we must close the gaps in current laws and ensure law enforcement has what it needs to prosecute these cases. I am grateful to Congressman Van Drew for his partnership on this bipartisan effort to protect the online privacy and dignity of the American people."

"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) applauds Representative Van Drew and Representative Dean for their leadership on House re-introduction of the SHIELD Act. This essential piece of legislation protects children and closes a gap in current law by criminalizing the distribution of sexually explicit images of a child. Since 2001, NCMEC has seen a 1,000% increase in reports of online enticement, including sextortion, to our CyberTipline. The SHIELD Act will provide a crucial legal remedy for children in many of these cases. We look forward to working with the House sponsors and Senators Klobuchar and Cornyn to ensure that the SHIELD Act is enacted this term. NCMEC is appreciative of all Congressional supporters of the SHIELD Act who are working to prioritize child safety online," said Michelle DeLaune, President and CEO of NCMEC.

"The non-consensual distribution of explicit images, especially those involving children, is a form of sexual exploitation that too often falls through the cracks of existing laws," said Stefan Turkheimer, Vice President of Public Policy at RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. "We continue to strongly support the SHIELD Act, as it fills a necessary gap in the law, better preventing abuse and holding those who share non-consensual intimate images accountable."

"The End OSEAC Coalition is proud to continue to support the SHIELD Act because it will make it illegal to share sexually explicit images without consent, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and fills a critical gap in current laws, holding those who share explicit images of children accountable, while still allowing for consensual sharing of images and photos of public interest," said Coco Lammers, Chair of the End Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children Coalition (OSEAC).

"The SHIELD Act will allow thousands of children to seek justice and restitution for online sexual exploitation where there isn't an avenue now," said Jennifer Dunton, Director of Legislative Affairs of Raven.

"IJM welcomes the reintroduction of the SHIELD Act. This bill will benefit children in the U.S. and around the world by criminalizing the distribution of sexually explicit images of children in instances where the images are exploitative, but do not meet the legal definition of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). From IJM's experience addressing sexual exploitation in the Philippines, Americans are some of the top offenders paying for and consuming sexually exploitative images and videos of children, including via livestreaming. Importantly, the bill's extraterritoriality clause that would ensure that both American offenders who distribute sexually exploitative images of foreign children and foreign nationals who distribute images of American children could be charged with a crime under law," said Nate King, Director of U.S. Policy and Advocacy at International Justice Mission (IJM).

The SHIELD Act is also endorsed by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), The Tim Tebow Foundation, and dozens of other organizations.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Cornyn (R-TX) lead a companion bill in the Senate.

Click here to read the text of the bill.