A bill regarding sex trafficking after a clean approval from the Senate is headed over to Trump. The bill termed Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA) was approved by the Senate on Wednesday after voting, as it passed with 97-to-2 votes, due to a culmination of huge efforts of republicans and democrats to make the internet safer. It allows law enforcement officials to tighten their grip on websites that facilitate sex trafficking, like Backpage.com. This bill would also help hold internet companies responsible for the content on their sites and face the subsequent consequences.
The bill was created because of Silicon Valley companies and its relations with sex trafficking. Though they have remained out of reach for a long time after the bill signing by Trump, every internet forum and big tech companies with hosting facilities for sex trafficking would be securitized for their content and would face future implementations of the laws and legislation regarding the passed bill. The shield by the law of 1996 that frees them from the liability of illegal content on their websites is soon to be a thing of the past. According to Senator John Thune of South Dakota the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, “it’s a wakeup call” for all and no more offenses would be accepted and or tolerated regarding this issue. It was also clarified that the bill would not create any ripple for tech companies or internet forums who are not involved in this matter.
