[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3608 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3608

 To require the Federal Trade Commission to identify content-agnostic 
platform interventions to reduce the harm of algorithmic amplification 
    and social media addiction on covered platforms, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 9, 2022

  Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Federal Trade Commission to identify content-agnostic 
platform interventions to reduce the harm of algorithmic amplification 
    and social media addiction on covered platforms, 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 ``Nudging Users to Drive Good 
Experiences on Social Media Act'' or the ``Social Media NUDGE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Social media platforms can have significant impacts on 
        their users, both positive and negative. However, social media 
        usage can be associated with detrimental outcomes, including on 
        a user's mental and physical health. Design decisions made by 
        social media platforms, such as decisions affecting the content 
        a user might see on a social media platform, may drive or 
        exacerbate these negative or detrimental outcomes.
            (2) Viral harmful content often spreads on social media 
        platforms. Social media platforms do not consistently enforce 
        their terms of service and content policies, leading to 
        supposedly prohibited content often being shown to users and 
        amplified by such platforms.
            (3) Social media platforms often rely heavily on automated 
        measures for content detection and moderation. These social 
        media platforms may rely on such automated measures due to the 
        large quantity of user-generated content on their platforms. 
        However, evidence suggests that even state-of-the-art automated 
        content moderation systems currently do not fully address the 
        harmful content on social media platforms.
            (4) Significant research has found that content-agnostic 
        interventions, if made by social media platforms, may help 
        significantly mitigate these issues. These interventions could 
        be readily implemented by social media platforms to provide 
        safer user experiences. Such interventions include the 
        following:
                    (A) Nudges to users and increased platform viewing 
                options, such as screen time alerts and grayscale phone 
                settings, which may reduce addictive platform usage 
                patterns and improve user experiences online.
                    (B) Labels and alerts that require a user to read 
                or review user-generated content before sharing such 
                content.
                    (C) Prompts to users, which may help users identify 
                manipulative and microtargeted advertisements.
                    (D) Other research-supported content-agnostic 
                interventions.
            (5) Evidence suggests that increased adoption of content-
        agnostic interventions would lead to improved outcomes of 
        social media usage. However, social media platforms may be 
        hesitant to independently implement content-agnostic 
        interventions that will reduce negative outcomes associated 
        with social media use.

SEC. 3. STUDY ON CONTENT-AGNOSTIC INTERVENTIONS.

    (a) Study To Identify Content-Agnostic Interventions.--The Director 
of the National Science Foundation (in this section referred to as the 
``Director'') shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies 
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (in this section referred to as 
the ``Academies'') to conduct ongoing studies to identify content-
agnostic interventions that covered platforms could implement to reduce 
the harms of algorithmic amplification and social media addiction on 
covered platforms. The initial study shall--
            (1) identify ways to define and measure the negative mental 
        or physical health impacts related to social media, including 
        harms related to algorithmic amplification and social media 
        addiction, through a review of--
                    (A) a wide variety of studies, literature, reports, 
                and other relevant materials created by academic 
                institutions, civil society groups, and other 
                appropriate sources; and
                    (B) relevant internal research conducted by a 
                covered platform or third-party research in the 
                possession of a covered platform that is voluntarily 
                submitted to the Academies by the covered platform 
                (through a process, established by the Academies, with 
                appropriate privacy safeguards);
            (2) identify research-based content-agnostic interventions, 
        such as reasonable limits on account creation and content 
        sharing, to combat problematic smartphone use and other 
        negative mental or physical health impacts related to social 
        media, including through a review of the materials described in 
        subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1);
            (3) provide recommendations on how covered platforms may be 
        separated into groups of similar platforms for the purpose of 
        implementing content-agnostic interventions, taking into 
        consideration factors including any similarity among the 
        covered platforms with respect to--
                    (A) the number of monthly active users of the 
                covered platform and the growth rate of such number;
                    (B) how user-generated content is created, shared, 
                amplified, and interacted with on the covered platform;
                    (C) how the covered platform generates revenue; and
                    (D) other relevant factors for providing 
                recommendations on how covered platforms may be 
                separated into groups of similar platforms;
            (4) for each group of covered platforms recommended under 
        paragraph (3), provide recommendations on which of the content-
        agnostic interventions identified in paragraph (2) are 
        generally applicable to the covered platforms in such group;
            (5) for each group of covered platforms recommended under 
        paragraph (3), provide recommendations on how the covered 
        platforms in such group could generally implement each of the 
        content-agnostic interventions identified for such group under 
        paragraph (4) in a way that does not alter the core 
        functionality of the covered platforms, considering--
                    (A) whether the content-agnostic intervention 
                should be offered as an optional setting or feature 
                that users of a covered platform could manually turn on 
                or off with appropriate default settings to reduce the 
                harms of algorithmic amplification and social media 
                addiction on the covered platform without altering the 
                core functionality of the covered platform; and
                    (B) other means by which the content-agnostic 
                intervention may be implemented and any associated 
                impact on the experiences of users of the covered 
                platform and the core functionality of the covered 
                platform;
            (6) for each group of covered platforms recommended under 
        paragraph (3), define metrics generally applicable to the 
        covered platforms in such group to measure and publicly report 
        in a privacy-preserving manner the impact of any content-
        agnostic intervention adopted by the covered platform; and
            (7) identify data and research questions necessary to 
        further understand the negative mental or physical health 
        impacts related to social media, including harms related to 
        algorithmic amplification and social media addiction.
    (b) Requirement To Submit Additional Research.--If a covered 
platform voluntarily submits internal research to the Academies under 
subsection (a)(1)(B), the covered platform shall, upon the request of 
the Academies and not later than 60 days after receiving such a 
request, submit to the Academies any other research in the platform's 
possession that is closely related to such voluntarily submitted 
research.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) Initial study report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Academies shall submit to 
        the Director, Congress, and the Commission a report containing 
        the results of the initial study conducted under subsection 
        (a), including recommendations for how the Commission should 
        establish rules for covered platforms related to content-
        agnostic interventions as described in paragraphs (1) through 
        (5) of subsection (a).
            (2) Updates.--Not later than 2 years after the effective 
        date of the regulations promulgated under section 4, and every 
        2 years thereafter during the 10-year period beginning on such 
        date, the Academies shall submit to the Director, Congress, and 
        the Commission a report containing the results of the ongoing 
        studies conducted under subsection (a). Each such report 
        shall--
                    (A) include analysis and updates to earlier studies 
                conducted, and recommendations made, under such 
                subsection;
                    (B) be based on--
                            (i) new academic research, reports, and 
                        other relevant materials related to the subject 
                        of previous studies, including additional 
                        research identifying new content-agnostic 
                        interventions; and
                            (ii) new academic research, reports, and 
                        other relevant materials about harms occurring 
                        on covered platforms that are not being 
                        addressed by the content-agnostic interventions 
                        being implemented by covered platforms as a 
                        result of the regulations promulgated under 
                        section 4;
                    (C) include information about the implementation of 
                the content-agnostic interventions by covered platforms 
                and the impact of the implementation of the content-
                agnostic interventions; and
                    (D) include an analysis of any entities that have 
                newly met the criteria to be considered a covered 
                platform under this Act since the last report submitted 
                under this subsection.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTENT-AGNOSTIC INTERVENTIONS.

    (a) Determination of Applicable Content-Agnostic Interventions.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the receipt 
        of the initial study report under section 3(c)(1), the 
        Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding for the 
        purpose of promulgating regulations in accordance with section 
        553 of title 5, United States Code--
                    (A) to determine how covered platforms should be 
                grouped together;
                    (B) to determine which content-agnostic 
                interventions identified in such report shall be 
                applicable to each group of covered platforms 
                identified in the report; and
                    (C) to require each covered platform to implement 
                and measure the impact of such content-agnostic 
                interventions in accordance with subsection (b).
            (2) Considerations.--In the rulemaking proceeding described 
        in paragraph (1), the Commission--
                    (A) shall consider the report under section 3(c)(1) 
                and its recommendations; and
                    (B) shall not promulgate regulations requiring any 
                covered platform to implement a content-agnostic 
                intervention that is not discussed in such report.
            (3) Notification to covered platforms.--The Commission 
        shall, not later than 30 days after the promulgation of the 
        regulations under this subsection, provide notice to each 
        covered platform of the content-agnostic interventions that are 
        applicable to the platform pursuant to the regulations 
        promulgated under this subsection.
    (b) Implementation of Content-Agnostic Interventions.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Implementation plan.--
                            (i) In general.--Not later than 60 days 
                        after the date on which a covered platform 
                        receives the notice from the Commission 
                        required under subsection (a)(3), the covered 
                        platform shall submit to the Commission a plan 
                        to implement each content-agnostic intervention 
                        applicable to the covered platform (as 
                        determined by the Commission) in an 
                        appropriately prompt manner. If the covered 
                        platform reasonably believes that any aspect of 
                        an applicable intervention is not technically 
                        feasible for the covered platform to implement, 
                        would substantially change the core 
                        functionality of the covered platform, or would 
                        pose a material privacy or security risk to 
                        consumer data stored, held, used, processed, or 
                        otherwise possessed by such covered platform, 
                        the covered platform shall include in its plan 
                        evidence supporting these beliefs in accordance 
                        with paragraph (2).
                            (ii) Commission determination.--Not later 
                        than 30 days after receiving a covered 
                        platform's plan under clause (i), the 
                        Commission shall determine whether such plan 
                        includes details related to the appropriately 
                        prompt implementation of each content-agnostic 
                        intervention applicable to the covered 
                        platform, except for any aspect of an 
                        intervention for which the Commission 
                        determines the covered platform is exempt under 
                        paragraph (2).
                            (iii) Appeal or revised plan.--
                                    (I) In general.--Subject to 
                                subclause (II), if the Commission 
                                determines under clause (ii) that a 
                                covered platform's plan does not 
                                satisfy the requirements of this 
                                subsection, not later than 90 days 
                                after the issuance of such 
                                determination, the covered platform 
                                shall--
                                            (aa) appeal the 
                                        determination by the Commission 
                                        to the United States Court of 
                                        Appeals for the Federal 
                                        Circuit; or
                                            (bb) submit to the 
                                        Commission a revised plan for a 
                                        Commission determination 
                                        pursuant to clause (ii).
                                    (II) Limitation.--If a covered 
                                platform submits 3 revised plans to the 
                                Commission for a determination pursuant 
                                to clause (ii) and the Commission 
                                determines that none of the revised 
                                plans satisfy the requirements of this 
                                subsection, the Commission may find 
                                that the platform is not acting in good 
                                faith in developing an implementation 
                                plan and may require the platform to 
                                implement, pursuant to a plan developed 
                                for the platform by the Commission, 
                                each content-agnostic intervention 
                                applicable to the platform (as 
                                determined by the Commission) in an 
                                appropriately prompt manner.
                    (B) Statement of compliance.--Not less frequently 
                than annually, each covered platform shall make 
                publicly available on their website and submit to the 
                Commission, in a machine-readable format and in a 
                privacy-preserving manner, the details of--
                            (i) the covered platform's compliance with 
                        the required implementation of content-agnostic 
                        interventions; and
                            (ii) the impact (using the metrics defined 
                        by the Director of the National Science 
                        Foundation and the National Academies of 
                        Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine pursuant to 
                        section 3(a)(6)) of such content-agnostic 
                        interventions on reducing the harms of 
                        algorithmic amplification and social media 
                        addiction on covered platforms.
            (2) Feasibility, functionality, privacy, and security 
        exemptions.--
                    (A) Statement of inapplicability.--Not later than 
                60 days after the date on which a covered platform 
                receives the notice from the Commission required under 
                subsection (a)(3), a covered platform seeking an 
                exemption from any aspect of such rule may submit to 
                the Commission--
                            (i) a statement identifying any specific 
                        aspect of a content-agnostic intervention 
                        applicable to such covered platform (as 
                        determined by the Commission under subsection 
                        (a)) that the covered platform reasonably 
                        believes--
                                    (I) is not technically feasible for 
                                the covered platform to implement;
                                    (II) will substantially change the 
                                core functionality of the covered 
                                platform; or
                                    (III) will create a material and 
                                imminent privacy or security risk to 
                                the consumer data stored, held, used, 
                                processed, or otherwise possessed by 
                                such covered platform; and
                            (ii) specific evidence supporting such 
                        belief, including any relevant information 
                        regarding the core functionality of the covered 
                        platform.
                    (B) Determination by the commission.--Not later 
                than 30 days after receiving a covered platform's 
                statement under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall 
                determine whether the covered platform shall be exempt 
                from any aspect of a content-agnostic intervention 
                discussed in the covered platform's statement.
                    (C) Appeal or revised plan.--Not later than 90 days 
                after a determination issued under subparagraph (B), a 
                covered platform may--
                            (i) appeal the determination by the 
                        Commission to the United States Court of 
                        Appeals for the Federal Circuit; or
                            (ii) submit to the Commission a revised 
                        plan, including details related to the prompt 
                        implementation of any content-agnostic 
                        intervention for which the covered platform 
                        requested an exemption that the Commission 
                        subsequently denied, for a Commission 
                        determination pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)(ii).

SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY REPORT.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
and semiannually thereafter, each covered platform shall publish a 
publicly available, machine-readable report about the content 
moderation efforts of the covered platform with respect to each 
language spoken by not less than 100,000 monthly active users of the 
covered platform in the United States. Such report shall include the 
following:
            (1) Content moderators.--The total number of individuals 
        employed or contracted by the covered platform during the 
        reporting period to engage in content moderation for each 
        language, broken down by the number of individuals retained as 
        full-time employees, part-time employees, and contractors of 
        the covered platform and reported in a privacy-preserving 
        manner.
            (2) Random sample of viewed content.--Information related 
        to a random sample of publicly visible content accounting for 
        1,000 views each month. Each month, covered platforms shall 
        calculate the total number of views for each piece of publicly 
        visible content posted during the month and sample randomly 
        from the content in a manner such that the probability of a 
        piece of content being sampled is proportionate to the total 
        number of views of that piece of content during the month. 
        Covered platforms shall report the following information about 
        each piece of sampled content (with appropriate redactions to 
        exclude the disclosure of illegal content):
                    (A) The text, images, audio, video, or other 
                creative data associated with each such piece of 
                content.
                    (B) The details of the account or accounts that 
                originally posted the content.
                    (C) The total number of views of each such piece of 
                content during the month.
            (3) High reach content.--Content moderation metrics broken 
        down by language to assess the prevalence of harmful content on 
        the covered platform, including, for each language, the 1,000 
        most viewed pieces of publicly visible content each month, 
        including the following (with appropriate redactions to exclude 
        the disclosure of illegal content):
                    (A) The text, images, audio, video, or other 
                creative data associated with each such piece of 
                content.
                    (B) The details of--
                            (i) the account that originally posted the 
                        content; and
                            (ii) any account whose sharing or reposting 
                        of the content accounted for more than 5 
                        percent of the views of the content.
            (4) Removed and moderated content.--
                    (A) In general.--Aggregate metrics for user-
                generated content that is affected by any automated or 
                manual moderation system or decision, including, as 
                calculated on a monthly basis and reported in a 
                privacy-preserving manner, the number of pieces of 
                user-generated content and the number of views of such 
                content that were--
                            (i) reported to the covered platform by a 
                        user of the covered platform;
                            (ii) flagged by the covered platform by an 
                        automated content detection system;
                            (iii) removed from the covered platform and 
                        not restored;
                            (iv) removed from the covered platform and 
                        later restored; or
                            (v) labeled, edited, or otherwise moderated 
                        by the covered platform following a user report 
                        or flagging by an automated content detection 
                        system.
                    (B) Requirements for metrics.--The metrics reported 
                under subparagraph (A) shall be broken down by--
                            (i) the language of the user-generated 
                        content;
                            (ii) the topic of the user-generated 
                        content, such as bullying, hate speech, drugs 
                        and firearms, violence and incitement, or any 
                        other category determined by the covered 
                        platform to categorize such content; and
                            (iii) if the covered platform has a process 
                        for publicly verifying that an account on the 
                        platform belongs to a prominent user or public 
                        figure, whether the creator of the content is a 
                        politician or journalist with a verified 
                        account.

SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices.--A violation of section 
3(b), 4, or 5 or a regulation promulgated under section 4 shall be 
treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or 
practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
    (b) Powers of the Commission.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall enforce this Act in 
        the same manner, by the same means, and with the same 
        jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 
        and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
        41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.
            (2) Privileges and immunities.--Any person who violates 
        section 4 or 5 or a regulation promulgated under section 4 
        shall be entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 
        the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
            (3) Enforcement guidelines and updates.--Not later than 1 
        year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 
        shall issue guidelines that outline any policies and practices 
        of the Commission related to the enforcement of this Act in 
        order to promote transparency and deter violations of this Act. 
        The Commission shall update the guidelines as needed to reflect 
        current policies, practices, and changes in technology, but not 
        less frequently than once every 4 years.
            (4) Authority preserved.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
        construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any 
        other provision of law.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Algorithmic amplification.--The term ``algorithmic 
        amplification'' means the promotion, demotion, recommendation, 
        prioritization, or de-prioritization of user-generated content 
        on a covered platform to other users of the covered platform 
        through a means other than presentation of content in a 
        reverse-chronological or chronological order.
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (3) Content moderation.--The term ``content moderation'' 
        means the intentional removal, labeling, or altering of user-
        generated content on a covered platform by the covered platform 
        or an automated or human system controlled by the covered 
        platform, including decreasing the algorithmic ranking of user-
        generated content, removing user-generated content from 
        algorithmic recommendations, or any other action taken in 
        accordance with the covered platform's terms of service, 
        community guidelines, or similar materials governing the 
        content allowed on the covered platform.
            (4) Content-agnostic intervention.--The term ``content-
        agnostic intervention'' means an action that can be taken by a 
        covered platform to alter a user's experience on the covered 
        platform or the user interface of the covered platform that 
        does not--
                    (A) rely on the substance of user-generated content 
                on the covered platform; or
                    (B) alter the core functionality of the covered 
                platform.
            (5) Covered platform.--The term ``covered platform'' means 
        any public-facing website, desktop application, or mobile 
        application that--
                    (A) is operated for commercial purposes;
                    (B) provides a forum for user-generated content;
                    (C) is constructed such that the core functionality 
                of the website or application is to facilitate 
                interaction between users and user-generated content; 
                and
                    (D) has more than 20,000,000 monthly active users 
                in the United States for a majority of the months in 
                the previous 12-month period.
            (6) Privacy-preserving manner.--The term ``privacy-
        preserving manner'' means, with respect to a report made by a 
        covered platform, that the information contained in the report 
        is presented in a manner in which it is not reasonably capable 
        of being used, either on its own or in combination with other 
        readily accessible information, to uniquely identify an 
        individual.
            (7) User.--The term ``user'' means a person that uses a 
        covered platform, regardless of whether that person has an 
        account or is otherwise registered with the platform.
            (8) User-generated content.--The term ``user-generated 
        content'' means any content, including text, images, audio, 
        video, or other creative data that is substantially created, 
        developed, or published on a covered platform by any user of 
        such covered platform.
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