3.0.0 1384 2023-01-11T13:49:09Z 2023-01-11T13:49:09Z Senate S 2021-04-27 117 sscm00 Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2021-04-27T19:40:28Z 21st Century FREE Speech Act 117 7613 HR 2022-04-29 Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Identical bill CRS 2021-04-27 sscm00 Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. IntroReferral 2021-04-27 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress H000601 Sen. Hagerty, Bill [R-TN] Bill Hagerty R TN N Science, Technology, Communications Assault and harassment offenses Civil actions and liability Consumer affairs First Amendment rights Fraud offenses and financial crimes Internet and video services Internet, web applications, social media Pornography Terrorism Science, Technology, Communications 00 2021-04-27 Introduced in Senate 2022-06-27T14:15:37Z 21st Century Foundation for the Right to Express and Engage in Speech Act or the 21st Century FREE Speech Act

This bill makes various changes to liability protections and requirements for providers and users of an interactive computer service (e.g., a social media company).

The bill replaces existing liability protections (sometimes referred to as Section 230 protection) related to content provided by third parties with more limited protections.

The bill provides some liability protection for third-party content, but the protection shall not apply to a provider or user who carries out certain affirmative acts, such as barring users from the service or restricting access to or availability of material. However, the protection shall apply if the action is taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of obscene, unlawful, or other similarly objectionable material.

Additionally, the bill places specific requirements on common carrier technology companies, defined in the bill as providers that offer services to the public and have over 100 million active monthly users. These companies must

  • furnish their services to all persons upon request and in a manner that does not discriminate against or unfairly advantage any particular persons, class of persons, political or religious groups, or localities; and
  • publicly disclose their practices for moderating content, terminating accounts, and related matters.

Aggrieved individuals and state entities may sue to enforce these requirements, and the Federal Communications Commission must develop best practices for complying with the requirements.

The bill's provisions do not apply to designated areas of law, including criminal law and state law.

]]> 21st Century FREE Speech Act Display Title 21st Century FREE Speech Act Official Title as Introduced A bill to repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 and ensure reasonable, non-discriminatory access to online communications platforms. Introduced in Senate IS Short Title(s) as Introduced 21st Century FREE Speech Act Introduced in Senate IS Short Title(s) as Introduced 21st Century Foundation for the Right to Express and Engage in Speech Act Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2021-04-27T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117s1384is/xml/BILLS-117s1384is.xml 2021-04-27 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. 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. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.