[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4758 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4758
To require reporting of suspicious transmissions in order to assist in
criminal investigations and counterintelligence activities relating to
international terrorism, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 29, 2020
Mr. Manchin (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require reporting of suspicious transmissions in order to assist in
criminal investigations and counterintelligence activities relating to
international terrorism, and for other purposes.
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 ``See Something, Say Something Online
Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 230) (commonly known as the ``Communications Decency Act
of 1996'') was never intended to provide legal protection for
websites or interactive computer services that do nothing after
becoming aware of instances of individuals or groups planning,
committing, promoting, and facilitating terrorism, serious drug
offenses, and violent crimes;
(2) it is not the intent of this Act to remove or strip all
liability protection from websites or interactive computer
services that are proactively working to resolve these issues;
and
(3) should websites or interactive service providers fail
to exercise due care in the implementation, filing of the
suspicious transmission activity reports, and reporting of
major crimes, Congress intends to look at removing liability
protections under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 in its
entirety.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Justice.
(2) Interactive computer service.--The term ``interactive
computer service'' has the meaning given the term in section
230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230).
(3) Known suspicious transmission.--The term ``known
suspicious transmission'' is any suspicious transmission that
an interactive computer service should have reasonably known to
have occurred or have been notified of by a director, officer,
employee, agent, interactive computer service user, or State or
Federal law enforcement agency.
(4) Major crime.--The term ``major crime'' means a Federal
criminal offense--
(A) that is a crime of violence (as defined in
section 16 of title 18, United States Code);
(B) relating to domestic or international terrorism
(as those terms are defined in section 2331 of title
18, United States Code); and
(C) that is a serious drug offense (as defined in
section 924(e) of title 18, United States Code).
(5) STAR.--The term ``STAR'' means a suspicious
transmission activity report required to be submitted under
section 3.
(6) Suspicious transmission.--The term ``suspicious
transmission'' means any public or private post, message,
comment, tag, transaction, or any other user-generated content
or transmission that commits, facilitates, incites, promotes,
or otherwise assists the commission of a major crime.
SEC. 4. REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY.
(a) Mandatory Reporting of Suspicious Transmissions.--
(1) In general.--If a provider of an interactive computer
service detects a suspicious transmission, the interactive
computer service, including any director, officer, employee,
agent, or representative of such provider, shall submit to the
Department a STAR describing the suspicious transmission in
accordance with this section.
(2) Requirements.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(C), a STAR required to be submitted under paragraph
(1) shall be submitted not later than 30 days after the
date on which the interactive computer service--
(i) initially detects the suspicious
transmission; or
(ii) is alerted to the suspicious
transmission on the platform of such service.
(B) Immediate notification.--In the case of a
suspicious transmission that requires immediate
attention, such as an active sale or solicitation of
sale of drugs or a threat of terrorist activity, the
provider of an interactive computer service shall--
(i) immediately notify, by telephone, an
appropriate law enforcement authority; and
(ii) file a STAR in accordance with this
section.
(C) Delay of submission.--The 30-day period
described in subparagraph (A) may be extended by 30
days if the provider of an interactive computer service
provides a valid reason to the agency designated or
established under subsection (b)(2).
(b) Reporting Process.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall establish a
process by which a provider of an interactive computer service
may submit STARs under this section.
(2) Designated agency.--
(A) In general.--In carrying out this section, the
Attorney General shall designate an agency within the
Department, or, if the Attorney General determines
appropriate, establish a new agency within the
Department, to which STARs should be submitted under
subsection (a).
(B) Consumer reporting.--The agency designated or
established under subparagraph (A) shall establish a
centralized online resource, which may be used by
individual members of the public to report suspicious
activity related to major crimes for investigation by
the appropriate law enforcement or regulatory agency.
(C) Cooperation with industry.--The agency
designated or established under subparagraph (A)--
(i) may conduct training for enforcement
agencies and for providers of interactive
computer services on how to cooperate in
reporting suspicious activity;
(ii) may develop relationships for
promotion of reporting mechanisms and resources
available on the centralized online resource
required to be established under subparagraph
(B); and
(iii) shall coordinate with the National
White Collar Crime Center to convene experts to
design training programs for State and local
law enforcement agencies, which may include
using social media, online ads, paid
placements, and partnering with expert
nonprofit organizations to promote awareness
and engage with the public.
(c) Contents.--Each STAR submitted under this section shall
contain, at a minimum--
(1) the name, location, and other such identification
information as submitted by the user to the provider of the
interactive computer service;
(2) the date and nature of the post, message, comment, tag,
transaction, or other user-generated content or transmission
detected for suspicious activity such as time, origin, and
destination; and
(3) any relevant text, information, and metadata related to
the suspicious transmission.
(d) Retention of Records and Nondisclosure.--
(1) Retention of records.--Each provider of an interactive
computer service shall--
(A) maintain a copy of any STAR submitted under
this section and the original record equivalent of any
supporting documentation for the 5-year period
beginning on the date on which the STAR was submitted;
(B) make all supporting documentation available to
the Department and any appropriate law enforcement
agencies upon request; and
(C) not later than 30 days after the date on which
the interactive computer service submits a STAR under
this section, take action against the website or
account reported unless the provider of an interactive
computer service receives a notification from a law
enforcement agency that the website or account should
remain open.
(2) Nondisclosure.--Except as otherwise prescribed by the
Attorney General, no provider of an interactive computer
service, or officer, director, employee, or agent of such a
provider, subject to an order under subsection (a) may disclose
the existence of, or terms of, the order to any person.
(e) Disclosure to Other Agencies.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Attorney
General shall--
(A) ensure that STARs submitted under this section
and reports from the public submitted under subsection
(b)(2)(B) are referred as necessary to the appropriate
Federal, State, or local law enforcement or regulatory
agency;
(B) make information in a STAR submitted under this
section available to an agency, including any State
financial institutions supervisory agency or United
States intelligence agency, upon request of the head of
the agency; and
(C) develop a strategy to disseminate relevant
information in a STAR submitted under this section in a
timely manner to other law enforcement and government
agencies, as appropriate, and coordinate with relevant
nongovernmental entities, such as the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children.
(2) Limitation.--The Attorney General may only make a STAR
available under paragraph (1) for law enforcement purposes.
(f) Compliance.--Any provider of an interactive computer service
that fails to report a known suspicious transmission shall not be
immune from civil or criminal liability for such transmission under
section 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)).
(g) Application of FOIA.--Any STAR submitted under this section,
and any information therein or record thereof, shall be exempt from
disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, or any
similar State, local, Tribal, or territorial law.
(h) Rulemaking Authority.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall promulgate
regulations to carry out this section.
(i) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report
describing the plan of the Department for implementation of this Act,
including a breakdown of the costs associated with implementation.
(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Attorney General such sums as may be necessary to
carry out this Act.
SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT.
Section 230(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Loss of liability protection for failure to submit
suspicious transmission activity report.--
``(A) Requirement.--Any provider of an interactive
computer service shall take reasonable steps to prevent
or address unlawful users of the service through the
reporting of suspicious transmissions.
``(B) Failure to comply.--Any provider of an
interactive computer service that fails to report a
known suspicious transmission may be held liable as a
publisher for the related suspicious transmission.
``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to impair or limit any
claim or cause of action arising from the failure of a
provider of an interactive computer service to report a
suspicious transmission.''.
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