Rep. Ro Khanna Rohit (Ro) KhannaOvernight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds On The Money: Half of states deplete funds for Trump's 0 unemployment expansion | EU appealing ruling in Apple tax case | House Democrats include more aid for airlines in coronavirus package The movement to reform animal agriculture has reached a tipping point MORE (D-Calif.) said Monday that he will introduce legislation calling for a study on the effects of a recent sex-trafficking law on free speech and the safety of sex workers.

The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Acts, collectively known as FOSTA-SESTA, make it illegal to knowingly assist or facilitate sex trafficking and excludes advertisements for sex work from the Communications Decency Act’s “safe harbor” rule.

The law passed with bipartisan support in 2018, with only Sens. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulRon Paul hospitalized in Texas The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Rand Paul says he can't judge 'guilt or innocence' in Breonna Taylor case MORE (R-Ky.) and Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (D-Ore.) voting against it in the Senate, but both free speech organizations and sex workers have criticized the measure.

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“The law was supposed to prevent online sex trafficking, but instead criminalized online sex work and suppressed free speech,” Khanna tweeted, saying his proposal would commission a National Institutes of Health study on its effects.

I will be introducing a bill calling on the @NIH to conduct a study assessing the way #SESTA-#FOSTA has impacted the health and safety of sex workers



Why? The law was supposed to prevent online sex trafficking, but instead criminalized online sex work and suppressed free speech. — Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) December 2, 2019

The law’s provisions on online speech, he added, also deprived sex workers of a method they could use to screen out potentially dangerous clients.

“Prior to SESTA-FOSTA, sex workers used websites to screen clients. Now those sites are illegal, and sex workers can’t take safety measures like screening a potential client’s social media, prearranging a public meeting spot, or sharing their location with friends,” he tweeted.

“We need a better understanding of how the shutting down of these websites has endangered sex workers,” Khanna added.