YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesTransparency & AccountabilityFederal officials could gag companies about child-abuse subpoenas for 180 days without a judge's OK first.
Civil Liberties
In child sex abuse cases, the official who issues a subpoena could bar the company that gets it from telling anyone, including the customer. Today a court must approve that. The company could ask a judge to review it, but the gag stays in place meanwhile.
A gag order today lasts up to 90 days at a time. Under the bill, an official's order lasts 180 days. A judge could extend it for 180 days or longer each time, without hearing from the company.
Transparency & Accountability
If a company fights a gag order in court, the judge must close the hearing as needed to keep the subpoena secret. Court papers would stay sealed for as long as needed.
More about this bill
Say a phone company, app, or bank gets a federal subpoena in a child sex abuse case. The official who sent it could order the company to keep quiet about it for 180 days. The company could not tell the people whose records it hands over. No judge would have to approve that order first. Today only a court can order that silence, and only for up to 90 days at a time. The official must state that telling anyone could put someone in danger, help a suspect run, or harm the case. The company could still tell its lawyer and the staff who pull the records. It must warn them about the gag order. If the official asks, it must also name who it told. The company could ask a court to review the gag order, which stays in place while the case goes on. The government would then have 30 days to ask the court to keep it. A judge could extend it for 180 days or longer at a time, without hearing from the company. These court hearings would be closed. Court papers would stay sealed as long as needed. The bill also moves one subpoena power for threats against people the Secret Service protects. It goes from the Treasury Secretary to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Congressional Summary
Targeting Child Predators Act of 2025 This bill lengthens the duration of a nondisclosure order issued in connection with an administrative subpoena in a child exploitation or abuse investigation. The bill also subjects the nondisclosure order to judicial review. Current law permits the government to issue an administrative subpoena that compels providers of remote computing services or electronic communication services (providers) to disclose information pertaining to a subscriber in connection with a child exploitation or abuse investigation. Providers may notify customers and subscribers of the administrative subpoena unless the government obtains a court order—a nondisclosure order—that prohibits the notification. A nondisclosure order is currently valid for up to 90 days. This bill allows the government to obtain a nondisclosure order for 180 days in connection with a child exploitation or abuse investigation if the administrative subpoena includes a certification of necessity and notice of the right to judicial review.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-05-21
- Date Added
- 2026-10-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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