ENFORCE Act Introduced
Bipartisan Bill Targets AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
Washington, D.C. — Building on the momentum of bipartisan leadership in the House, where Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO), Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), and Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) first introduced the ENFORCE Act in August, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and John Kennedy (R-LA) have now officially introduced the bill in the Senate. Together, these lawmakers are leading a united effort to close dangerous loopholes in federal law that allow predators to evade accountability for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) created or altered with artificial intelligence (AI).
The ENFORCE Act was drafted and advanced by RAVEN’s Director of Legislative Affairs, Jennifer Dunton. It builds on years of bipartisan work to ensure that America’s child protection laws keep pace with technology.
AI tools are now being used to generate or manipulate images of children in sexualized or abusive ways. In many cases, these images are based on real children whose likenesses are stolen and exploited without consent.
The ENFORCE Act fixes this by:
Closing legal loopholes so that anyone who creates AI-generated or modified child sexual abuse material can be fully prosecuted, even if they did not intend to distribute it.
Requiring full accountability measures, including sex-offender registration, mandatory supervised release, pre-trial detention for offenders, and no statute of limitations, ensuring these crimes are pursued with the same seriousness as other child exploitation offenses.
Protecting victims’ privacy by ensuring that explicit images are securely held by the government and never reproduced during court proceedings.
“The ENFORCE Act ensures that offenders who produce obscene content involving minors, whether through deepfakes or generative AI, are finally held accountable in the same way as those prosecuted under existing child sexual abuse material laws,” said Jennifer Dunton, Director of Legislative Affairs at RAVEN. “Our laws must reflect the reality that digital abuse causes real harm. This bill gives prosecutors the tools they need, including mandatory sex-offender registration, to respond effectively and pursue these crimes with the seriousness they demand.”
The bill is endorsed by Thorn, the National Children’s Alliance, the Child Rescue Coalition, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), Rights 4 Girls, and the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), reflecting a broad national consensus around the urgent need to protect children online.
At a time when AI is transforming nearly every aspect of daily life, the ENFORCE Act sends a clear bipartisan message: protecting kids must come first. By modernizing the law and giving prosecutors the tools they need, this bill takes a critical step toward restoring safety, dignity, and justice for children in the digital age.
Media Contact:
Brenna Pitman
Director of Development
Brenna@raven.us