PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 49 · Public Law · Dec 21, 2018
CyberTipline Modernization Act of 2018 (Sec. 2) This bill revises reporting requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers (providers) who report information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
Currently, providers must report the facts and circumstances of incidents of apparent child pornography, of which they become aware, to NCMEC via the CyberTipline. This bill retains the existing reporting requirement and provides new authority for providers to also report the facts and circumstances that indicate a child pornography violation is imminent.
Additionally, it makes various procedural changes to the reporting requirements, including to do the following:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
grant discretion to providers to determine what information to include in a report;
permit (currently, require) the Department of Justice (DOJ) to designate foreign law enforcement agencies to receive CyberTipline reports from NCMEC;
allow NCMEC to forward a report to a foreign law enforcement agency in certain circumstances, even if the foreign law enforcement agency has not been designated by DOJ; and
provide explicit permission for a provider to disclose the contents of a report, including visual depictions, to law enforcement agencies, to NCMEC, or as necessary to respond to legal process.
Finally, the bill revises and updates various statutory references, including to replace references to “images” with “visual depictions” to make reporting requirements applicable to videos, in addition to images.
People & committees
Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] · R–TX
Legislative record
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Became Public Law No: 115-395.
Became Public Law No: 115-395.
Signed by President.
Signed by President.
Presented to President.
Presented to President.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
On passage Passed without objection. (text: CR H10153-10155)
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed without objection.(text: CR H10153-10155)
Considered by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR H10153-10155)
Committee on the Judiciary discharged.
Committee on the Judiciary discharged.
Mr. Goodlatte asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Received in the House.
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S6364)
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 582.
Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Grassley without amendment. Without written report.
Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Grassley without amendment. Without written report.
Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4738-4740)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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