US House Passes Combating Online Predators Act Criminalising Threats to Distribute CSAM

The United States House of Representatives unanimously passed the Combating Online Predators Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Congresswoman Laurel Lee to close a loophole in federal law by explicitly criminalising threats to distribute child sexual abuse material, a tactic commonly used by online predators in sextortion schemes. The bill, which strengthens federal protections for children targeted by online sextortion, passed without opposition, reflecting cross-party consensus on the need for clearer statutory authority to prosecute offenders who use threats of CSAM distribution to coerce, intimidate or extort minors.

Criminalising the threat to distribute gives prosecutors a charge that fits the conduct, but the child has typically already been coerced into creating the image by the time a threat is articulated and reported. Real protection requires detecting the coercive conversation while the offender is still soliciting compliance, not after the threat has been issued. The anti-sextortion capability within Guardii, a world-leading AI safety platform and Meta Business Partner, detects the escalation from false rapport through image solicitation to threat in real time across messaging platforms including Instagram, Snapchat and Discord, blocking the exchange at the point coercion becomes evident and surfacing the child to a parent, counsellor or law enforcement contact before the material is created or the threat formalised, preventing the harm federal law now has clearer authority to punish.