[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2264 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2264

  To allow for civil and criminal actions against certain providers of 
         interactive computer services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 12, 2023

  Mr. Ossoff introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To allow for civil and criminal actions against certain providers of 
         interactive computer services, 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 ``Fentanyl Trafficking Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT VIOLATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Part D of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
841 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 424. LIABILITY OF INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS.

    ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `covered provider' 
means a provider of an interactive computer service, as that term is 
defined in section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
230), that at any point during the 12 months preceding the filing of an 
indictment or information alleging a violation of subsection (b) or the 
filing of a complaint in a civil action under subsection (c)--
            ``(1) has not fewer than 50,000,000 United States-based 
        monthly active users; or
            ``(2) has not fewer than 100,000,000 worldwide monthly 
        active users.
    ``(b) Criminal Offense.--
            ``(1) Offense.--It shall be unlawful for a covered provider 
        that operates through the use of any facility or means of 
        interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or 
        foreign commerce, through such service to knowingly or 
        intentionally facilitate a violation of section 401(a)(1), 409, 
        418, or 419 for distributing, dispensing, or possessing with 
        intent to distribute or dispense--
                    ``(A) an opioid or a synthetic opioid;
                    ``(B) cocaine; or
                    ``(C) methamphetamine.
            ``(2) Penalty.--A covered provider that violates paragraph 
        (1) shall be fined not more than $10,000,000.
    ``(c) Civil Action.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may bring a civil 
        action in an appropriate district court of the United States 
        against any covered provider that operates through the use of 
        any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce or in 
        or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, and through such 
        service, intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly facilitates a 
        violation of section 401(a)(1), 409, 418, or 419 for 
        distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to 
        distribute or dispense--
                    ``(A) an opioid or a synthetic opioid;
                    ``(B) cocaine; or
                    ``(C) methamphetamine.
            ``(2) Penalty.--In a civil action brought under paragraph 
        (1), the Attorney General may recover a civil penalty of not 
        more than $5,000,000.
    ``(d) Rules of Construction.--
            ``(1) Applicability to legal process.--Nothing in this 
        section shall be construed to apply to any action by a covered 
        provider that is necessary to comply with a valid court order, 
        subpoena, search warrant, statutory obligation, or preservation 
        request from a law enforcement agency.
            ``(2) Mental state with respect to each item required.--For 
        purposes of subsections (b) and (c), the terms `intentionally', 
        `knowingly', and `recklessly' shall be construed to mean 
        intentionality, knowledge, or recklessness, respectively, with 
        respect to the facilitation of each violation described in 
        those subsections.
    ``(e) Encryption Technologies.--
            ``(1) Cybersecurity protections do not give rise to 
        liability.--A criminal prosecution under subsection (b) or a 
        civil action under subsection (c) may not be brought against a 
        covered provider because the covered provider--
                    ``(A) utilizes full end-to-end encrypted messaging 
                services, device encryption, or other encryption 
                services;
                    ``(B) does not possess the information necessary to 
                decrypt a communication; or
                    ``(C) fails to take an action that would otherwise 
                undermine the ability of the covered provider to offer 
                full end-to-end encrypted messaging services, device 
                encryption, or other encryption services.
            ``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection is 
        intended to undermine the use of encryption technology.
    ``(f) Protection of Privacy.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to require a covered provider to--
            ``(1) monitor any user, subscriber, or customer of that 
        covered provider;
            ``(2) monitor the content of any communication of any 
        person described in paragraph (1); or
            ``(3) affirmatively search, screen, or scan for violations 
        described in subsection (b)(1) or (c)(1).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to section 423 the following:

``Sec. 424. Liability of interactive computer service providers.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL CIVIL LIABILITY.

    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) No effect on certain claims or charges pertaining to 
        certain drugs.--Nothing in this section, other than subsection 
        (c)(2)(A), shall be construed to impair or limit any claim in a 
        civil action brought against a provider of an interactive 
        computer service under section 424(c) of the Controlled 
        Substances Act.''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the 
application of such a provision or amendment to any person or 
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions 
of this Act and amendments made by this Act, and the application of 
such provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall 
not be affected thereby.
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