[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4445 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4445

 To direct the Federal Trade Commission to submit to Congress a report 
on the consumer harm arising from the use, in advertisements and other 
media for the promotion of commercial products and services, of images 
that have been altered to materially change the appearance and physical 
  characteristics of the faces and bodies of the individuals depicted.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 2016

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Takano, Mr. 
    Ellison, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Hastings, Mr. 
 Cartwright, and Mr. Gallego) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Federal Trade Commission to submit to Congress a report 
on the consumer harm arising from the use, in advertisements and other 
media for the promotion of commercial products and services, of images 
that have been altered to materially change the appearance and physical 
  characteristics of the faces and bodies of the individuals depicted.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Truth in Advertising Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Advertisers regularly alter images used in print and 
        electronic media to sell products and services, materially 
        changing the appearance and physical characteristics of models' 
        faces and bodies, including by altering the models' size, 
        proportions, shape, and skin color and removing signs of 
        ageing.
            (2) Such altered images can create distorted and 
        unrealistic expectations and understandings of appropriate and 
        healthy weight and body image.
            (3) Decades of academic evidence links exposure to such 
        altered images with emotional, mental, and physical health 
        issues including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, 
        especially among children and teenagers.
            (4) In 2011, the American Medical Association adopted a 
        policy encouraging advertising associations to work with public 
        and private sector organizations concerned with child and 
        adolescent health to develop guidelines for advertisements, 
        especially those appearing in teen-oriented publications, that 
        would discourage the altering of photographs in a manner that 
        could promote unrealistic expectations of appropriate body 
        image.
            (5) Despite the shift in modern advertising to rely 
        primarily on imagery, the Federal Trade Commission continues to 
        focus on linguistic elements of advertising, even as some 
        advertisers use unfair or deceptive images to promote their 
        products to consumers.
            (6) The Federal Trade Commission has not made any 
        significant revisions to its policies for identifying unfair or 
        deceptive visual imagery in advertisements since at least 1983, 
        well before the digital revolution in modern advertising.

SEC. 3. REPORT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall submit to 
Congress a report that contains--
            (1) an assessment of the prevalence, in advertisements and 
        other media for the promotion of commercial products and 
        services in the United States, of images that have been altered 
        to materially change the appearance and physical 
        characteristics of the faces and bodies of the individuals 
        depicted;
            (2) an evaluation of the degree to which the use of such 
        altered images in advertisements and other media for the 
        promotion of commercial products and services may constitute an 
        unfair or deceptive act or practice (within the meaning of 
        section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
        45(a)(1)));
            (3) clear guidelines for advertisers regarding how the 
        Commission determines whether the use of such altered images in 
        advertisements and other media for the promotion of commercial 
        products and services constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or 
        practice; and
            (4) recommendations reflecting a consensus of the 
        stakeholders and experts described in subsection (b) to reduce 
        the consumer harm arising from the use of such altered images 
        in advertisements and other media for the promotion of 
        commercial products and services.
    (b) Input of External Stakeholders and Experts.--In preparing the 
report required by subsection (a), the Federal Trade Commission shall 
solicit input from external stakeholders and experts on the data and 
recommendations required to be included in such report. The Commission, 
in consultation with the Director of the National Institute of Mental 
Health and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall 
ensure that input is obtained from an appropriate number of 
stakeholders and experts and, to the extent practicable, from 
stakeholders and experts that are geographically and culturally diverse 
and that include stakeholders and experts from the physical and mental 
health, business, consumer advocacy, and advertising industry 
communities.
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