[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1914 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1914
To amend the Communications Decency Act to encourage providers of
interactive computer services to provide content moderation that is
politically neutral.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 19, 2019
Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Decency Act to encourage providers of
interactive computer services to provide content moderation that is
politically neutral.
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 ``Ending Support for Internet
Censorship Act''.
SEC. 2. POLITICAL NEUTRALITY IN CONTENT MODERATION.
(a) In General.--Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 230) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(3) Requirement of politically unbiased content
moderation by covered companies.--
``(A) In general.--Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not
apply in the case of a covered company unless the
company has in effect an immunity certification from
the Federal Trade Commission (referred to in this
paragraph as the `Commission') under subparagraph (B)
that the company does not moderate information provided
by other information content providers in a manner that
is biased against a political party, political
candidate, or political viewpoint.
``(B) Federal trade commission immunity
certification.--
``(i) In general.--The Commission shall
certify any provider of an interactive computer
service that--
``(I) is a covered company or
anticipates that it will become a
covered company within the next 2
years;
``(II) applies to the Commission
for a certification under this
subparagraph; and
``(III) proves to the Commission by
clear and convincing evidence that the
provider does not (and, during the 2-
year period preceding the date on which
the provider submits the application
for certification, did not) moderate
information provided by other
information content providers in a
politically biased manner.
``(ii) Politically biased moderation.--The
moderation practices of a provider of an
interactive computer service are politically
biased if--
``(I) the provider moderates
information provided by other
information content providers in a
manner that--
``(aa) is designed to
negatively affect a political
party, political candidate, or
political viewpoint; or
``(bb) disproportionately
restricts or promotes access
to, or the availability of,
information from a political
party, political candidate, or
political viewpoint; or
``(II) an officer or employee of
the provider makes a decision about
moderating information provided by
other information content providers
that is motivated by an intent to
negatively affect a political party,
political candidate, or political
viewpoint.
``(iii) Exceptions.--
``(I) Business necessity.--An
action of a provider of an interactive
computer service that
disproportionately restricts access to,
or the availability of, information
from a political party, political
candidate, or political viewpoint shall
not be considered to be a politically
biased moderation practice if the
action is necessary for business or the
information involved is not speech that
would be protected under the First
Amendment of the United States
Constitution, there is no available
alternative that has a less
disproportionate effect, and the
provider does not act with the intent
to discriminate based on political
affiliation, political party, or
political viewpoint.
``(II) Actions by employees.--A
provider of an interactive computer
service shall not be denied a
certification under this subparagraph
on the basis of an employee of the
provider acting in the manner described
in clause (ii)(II) in making a decision
about moderating information provided
by other information content providers
if the provider, immediately upon
learning of the actions of the
employee--
``(aa) publicly discloses
in a conspicuous manner that an
employee of the provider acted
in a politically biased manner
with respect to moderating
information content; and
``(bb) terminates or
otherwise disciplines the
employee.
``(iv) Certification process.--
``(I) Approval.--The Commission
shall not certify a provider of an
interactive computer service under this
subparagraph unless at least one more
than a majority of the Commissioners
approve such certification.
``(II) Timeline.--The Commission
shall ensure that timely applications
for certification under this
subparagraph are processed within 6
months.
``(III) Publication of dissenting
opinions.--The Commission shall make
publicly available the dissenting
opinion of any Commissioner who
disagrees with a decision of the
Commission to certify, or deny
certification to, a provider of an
interactive computer service.
``(IV) Public input.--The
Commission shall establish a process to
allow information content providers
to--
``(aa) submit complaints or
evidence that they have been
subject to politically biased
content moderation by a
provider of an interactive
computer service; and
``(bb) attend or
participate in any hearings
that the Commission holds with
respect to an application for
certification from a provider.
``(V) Renewals.--An application to
renew a certification shall be treated
in the same manner as an application
for a new certification.
``(C) Duration of certification.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii),
a certification obtained under subparagraph (B)
shall remain in effect with respect to a
provider of an interactive computer service for
a period of 2 years, and may subsequently be
renewed for additional 2-year periods.
``(ii) Extension for processing a
subsequent application.--If a provider of an
interactive computer service submits an
application to renew a certification under
subparagraph (B) while such certification is
still in effect, such certification shall
remain in effect while the Commission processes
such application, but in no case shall a
certification remain in effect for more than 30
months without being renewed.
``(D) Costs.--
``(i) In general.--The Commission shall
charge a fee in connection with an application
from a provider of an interactive computer
service for a certification (or a renewal of a
certification) under subparagraph (B).
``(ii) Limitation.--The amount of any fee
imposed under clause (i) with respect to an
application shall not exceed the costs to the
Commission in processing such application.'';
and
(2) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the following
new paragraphs:
``(5) Covered company.--The term `covered company' means a
provider of an interactive computer service (other than an
organization described in section 501(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt from taxation under
section 501(a) of such Code) that, at any time during the most
recent 12-month period--
``(A) had more than 30,000,000 active monthly users
in the United States;
``(B) had more than 300,000,000 active monthly
users worldwide; or
``(C) had more than $500,000,000 in global annual
revenue.
``(6) Moderate.--
``(A) In general.--The term `moderate' means--
``(i) to influence if, when, where, or how
information or other content provided by a
third-party user appears on a covered company's
interactive computer service; or
``(ii) to alter the information or other
content provided by a third-party user that
appears on a covered company's interactive
computer service.
``(B) Algorithms.--Such term shall include actions
taken through an algorithm or other automated process.
``(7) Business necessity.--The term `necessary for
business' refers to a lawful act that advances the growth,
development, or profitability of a company but does not include
any action designed to appeal to, or gain favor from, persons
or groups because of their political beliefs, political party
membership, or support for political candidates.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--Section 230(c)(2)(B) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)(2)(B)) is amended by
striking ``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``subparagraph (A)''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
take effect on the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.
(a) In General.--The Federal Trade Commission (referred to in this
section as the ``Commission'') is authorized to do the following:
(1) Staffing.--To hire sufficient staff (whether on a part-
time, full-time, or contract basis) to process applications
under paragraph (3) of section 230(c) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)), as added by section 2(a).
(2) Applications processes.--To establish processes to
certify covered companies under paragraph (3) of such section
230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (including setting
rates for application fees and setting application deadlines).
(b) Rulemaking Authority.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations,
in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to carry
out this section and the amendments made by section 2(a).
(c) Reports.--Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit a
report to Congress on whether the ability of interactive computer
services (as such term is defined in section 230(f) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f))) to moderate content
provided by other information content providers is such that the
protection provided by section 230(c) of such Act is no longer
necessary or should be modified.
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