S. 3397

119 S3397 IS: Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online
 U.S. Senate
 2025-12-09
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 3397  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   December 9, 2025   Mr. Grassley  (for himself,  Mr. Durbin ,  Ms. Klobuchar ,  Mr. Cornyn , and  Mr. Graham ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To make coercion of children to commit harm a criminal offense, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online   or the   ECCHO Act  .
2.
Coercion of children to commit harm
 Chapter 110A  of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2261B the following:
2261C.
Coercion of children to commit harm
(a)
Definitions
For purposes of this section:
(1)
Coerce
The term  coerce  includes the use of extortion, threats, fraud, deceit, duress, intimidation, harassment, humiliation, degradation, or manipulation.
(2)
Covered act
The term  covered act  means doxxing, swatting, or making a false report about an active or imminent threat.
(3)
Doxxing
The term  doxxing  means the act of publishing the personally identifiable information of an individual for the purpose of harassing or intimidating the individual.
(4)
Minor
The term  minor  means any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years.
(5)
Substantial bodily injury
The term  substantial bodily injury  has the meaning given that term in section 113.
(6)
Swatting
The term  swatting  means the act of making a false report to emergency services about an individual for the purpose of causing a special weapons and tactics team to respond to the location of the individual.
(b)
Offense
It shall be unlawful for any person, using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, to intentionally coerce a minor, directly or through an intermediary, to—
(1)
(A)
die by suicide or attempt to die by suicide; or
(B)
kill or attempt to kill any individual;
(2)
kill or attempt to kill any, pet, emotional support animal, service animal, or horse;
(3)
strangle, suffocate, poison, burn, lacerate, or inflict serious bodily injury or substantial bodily injury on any individual (including the minor), pet, emotional support animal, service animal, or horse; or
(4)
commit, or attempt to commit—
(A)
arson; or
(B)
a covered act for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.
(c)
Penalty
Any person who violates, or attempts or conspires to violate—
(1)
subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both; or
(2)
paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (b) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.
 .
3.
Clerical and conforming amendments
(a)
Clerical amendment
The table of sections for  chapter 110A  of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to  section 2261B  the following:
2261C. Coercion of children to commit harm
  .
(b)
Conforming amendments
(1)
Title 18
(A)
Chapter 110
 Chapter 110  of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(i)
in section 2252A(g), by inserting  section 2261C,  after  section 1591, ; and
(ii)
in section 2258A—
(I)
in subsection (a)—
(aa)
in paragraph (1)(A), by striking  online child sexual exploitation and to prevent the online sexual exploitation of children  and inserting  , and to prevent, online child sexual exploitation and online coercion of children ; and
(bb)
in paragraph (2)(A)—
(AA)
by striking  or 2260 that involves child pornography,  and inserting  2260, 2261C, or 2422(b), or ; and
(BB)
by striking  , or of 2422(b) ;
(II)
in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking  sexual  and inserting  online ;
(III)
in subsection (c)—
(aa)
in paragraph (1), by striking  , kidnapping or enticement crimes  and inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children ;
(bb)
in paragraph (2), by inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children  after  sexual exploitation ; and
(cc)
in paragraph (3), by striking  , kidnapping or enticement crimes  and inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children ;
(IV)
in subsection (d)(5)(A)(ii)(II), by striking  , kidnapping, or enticement crimes  and inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children ;
(V)
in subsection (g)(3)—
(aa)
in subparagraph (A), by striking  , kidnapping, or enticement crimes  and inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children ;
(bb)
in subparagraph (B), by striking  , kidnapping, or enticement crimes  and inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children ; and
(cc)
in subparagraph (C), by striking  , kidnapping, or enticement crimes  and inserting  or kidnapping, online coercion, or enticement crimes involving children ; and
(VI)
in subsection (h)(5), by striking  the proliferation of online child sexual exploitation or preventing the online sexual exploitation of children  and inserting  or preventing the proliferation of online child sexual exploitation or online coercion of children .
(B)
Section 3509
Section 3509(a)(2)(A) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking  physical abuse, sexual abuse, or exploitation  and inserting  child abuse .
(C)
Section 5032
Section 5032 of title 18, United States Code—
(i)
in the first undesignated paragraph—
(I)
by striking  or section 1002(a)  and inserting  section 1002(a) ; and
(II)
by striking  section 922(x) or section 924(b), (g), or (h) of this title  and inserting  or section 922(x), section 924(b), (g), or (h), or section 2261C of this title ; and
(ii)
in the fourth undesignated paragraph, by striking  section 922(x) of this title, or in section 924(b), (g), or (h) of this title  and inserting  section 922(x), section 924(b), (g), or (h), or section 2261C of this title .
(2)
PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008
Section 2 of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 ( 34 U.S.C. 21101 ) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
(1)
Child exploitation
The term  child exploitation  means—
(A)
any conduct, attempted conduct, or conspiracy to engage in conduct that—
(i)
violates chapter 110 or section 2261C, 2422(b), or 2423 of title 18; or
(ii)
involves a minor and violates section 1591 or  chapter 109A  of title 18; or
(B)
any sexual activity involving a minor for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.
 .
4.
Severability
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such a provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of and amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provision or amendment held to be unconstitutional to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.