[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5223 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5223
To prohibit the purchase or sale of securities while aware of nonpublic
information contained in certain social media accounts controlled by
Government officials, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 3, 2026
Mr. Warner introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the purchase or sale of securities while aware of nonpublic
information contained in certain social media accounts controlled by
Government officials, 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 ``No Preferential Release Of Federal
Information for Transactions Act'' or the ``NO PROFIT Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Commodity; contract of sale; future delivery; option;
swap.--The terms ``commodity'', ``contract of sale'', ``future
delivery'', ``option'', and ``swap'' have the meanings given
those terms in section 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7
U.S.C. 1a).
(2) Communication.--The term ``communication'' means any
post, statement, message, image, video, audio recording, or
other content generated, published, or distributed through a
social media platform.
(3) Covered family member.--The term ``covered family
member'' means the spouse, dependent child, or other immediate
family member of a covered government official.
(4) Covered government official.--The term ``covered
government official''--
(A) means--
(i) the President;
(ii) the Vice President;
(iii) a Member of Congress;
(iv) an employee of Congress;
(v) an executive branch employee;
(vi) a judicial officer; or
(vii) a judicial employee; and
(B) includes an individual described in any clause
of subparagraph (A) during the 180-day period beginning
on the date on which the individual separates from the
position described in the applicable clause.
(5) Covered social media account.--The term ``covered
social media account'' means an account or profile on a social
media platform that is--
(A) owned, operated, maintained, directed, or
controlled by--
(i) a covered government official;
(ii) a covered family member;
(iii) another person acting at the
direction of, or on behalf of, a covered
government official or a covered family member;
or
(iv) a Federal agency, executive
department, military department, or other
instrumentality of the Federal Government; or
(B) used by or on behalf of a covered government
official, or a covered family member, to communicate
with the public.
(6) Employee of congress.--The term ``employee of
Congress'' means--
(A) any individual, other than a Member of
Congress, the compensation of whom is disbursed by the
Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative
Officer of the House of Representatives; and
(B) any other officer or employee of the
legislative branch, as defined in section 13101 of
title 5, United States Code.
(7) Executive branch employee.--The term ``executive branch
employee''--
(A) means an employee, as defined in section 2105
of title 5, United States Code, in the executive branch
of the Federal Government; and
(B) includes--
(i) the President;
(ii) the Vice President;
(iii) an individual serving in a position
in the executive branch of the Federal
Government for which appointment is made by the
President, without regard to whether the advice
and consent of the Senate is required with
respect to that appointment, including an
individual serving in a position--
(I) at level I, II, III, IV, or V
of the Executive Schedule, as described
in section 5312, 5313, 5314, 5315, or
5316 of title 5, United States Code,
respectively;
(II) described in section
213.3102(c) of title 5, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor
regulation;
(III) described in section
213.3102(z) of title 5, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor
regulation; and
(IV) under schedule A under subpart
C of part 213 of title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, or any successor
regulations;
(iv) an employee of the United States
Postal Service or of the Postal Regulatory
Commission;
(v) a member of the uniformed services, as
defined in section 2101 of title 5, United
States Code, without regard to whether that
individual is on active duty;
(vi) an individual serving in a Senior
Executive Service position, as defined in
section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code;
(vii) an individual serving in a position
in the executive branch of the Federal
Government in a political capacity under
agency-specific authority; and
(viii) an individual serving in any
position described in this paragraph under a
provisional political appointment.
(8) Generally available.--The term ``generally available,''
with respect to a communication issued through a covered social
media account, means that the communication is disseminated
through a method (or combination of methods) that is available
to ordinary social media platform users through the standard,
no-cost interface, without regard to whether the communication
is also accessible through any other means, interface, or
arrangement.
(9) Judicial employee; judicial officer.--The terms
``judicial employee'' and ``judicial officer'' have the
meanings given those terms in section 13101 of title 5, United
States Code.
(10) Material information.--The term ``material
information'' means information with respect to which there is
a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would
consider the information important in making an investment or
trading decision.
(11) Member of congress.--The term ``Member of Congress''
means a Member of the Senate or House of Representatives, a
Delegate to the House of Representatives, or the Resident
Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
(12) Prioritized access.--The term ``prioritized access''
means any service, arrangement, method, or functionality
through which a social media platform, directly or indirectly,
allows a person or class of persons to receive, access, view,
process, or otherwise become aware of a communication issued
through a covered social media account--
(A) before the communication is generally
available; or
(B) on terms that differ materially in timing,
latency, method of delivery, format, functionality, or
technical accessibility from the terms available to
other users of the social media platform, unless those
terms are for accessibility accommodations offered on a
non-discriminatory basis.
(13) Prioritized covered information.--The term
``prioritized covered information'' means material information
contained in a communication issued through a covered social
media account that--
(A) is obtained by a person through prioritized
access; and
(B) at the time the person obtains the information,
is not generally available.
(14) Social media platform.--The term ``social media
platform'' has the meaning given the term in section 124(a) of
the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. 1862w(a)).
(15) Speculative information market.--The term
``speculative information market'' means a market, platform,
facility, or system through which a person may purchase, sell,
or enter into a contract, the value of, or payment with respect
to which, is based, in whole or in part, on the occurrence or
nonoccurrence of an event or the outcome of a future
contingency.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON TRADING WHILE AWARE OF PRIORITIZED COVERED
INFORMATION.
(a) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or
indirectly, while aware of prioritized covered information and before
that information is generally available, to--
(1) purchase, sell, or otherwise enter into a transaction
involving--
(A) a security or security-based swap;
(B) a commodity, contract of sale of a commodity
for future delivery, commodity option, or swap; or
(C) a contract offered through a speculative
information market;
(2) cause or direct another person to enter into a
transaction described in paragraph (1); or
(3) communicate prioritized covered information to another
person if the person communicating the prioritized covered
information knows, or reasonably should know, that the
recipient of the prioritized covered information is likely to
enter into a transaction described in paragraph (1) while aware
of that prioritized covered information and before the
prioritized covered information is generally available.
(b) Knowledge of Prioritized Access.--A person shall not be liable
under subsection (a) unless the person knew, or reasonably should have
known, that the applicable prioritized covered information was obtained
through prioritized access.
(c) Breach of Duty Not Required.--A violation of subsection (a)
shall not require proof that the applicable prioritized covered
information was obtained or communicated through a breach of a
fiduciary duty, a relationship of trust or confidence, or any other
duty of trust or confidence.
(d) Securities and Security-Based Swaps.--A violation of this
section involving a transaction involving a security or security-based
swap shall be treated as a violation of section 21A of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u-1), and the Securities and Exchange
Commission may enforce that violation in the same manner, by the same
means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and remedies available
to the Commission under such section 21A, without regard to whether
that transaction would otherwise (but for the operation of this
subsection) constitute a violation of such section 21A.
(e) Commodities, Futures, Options, Swaps, and Speculative
Information Market Contracts.--A violation of this section involving a
transaction involving a commodity, a contract of sale of a commodity
for future delivery, an option, a swap, or a contract of sale of a
commodity offered through a speculative information market shall be
treated as a violation of section 6(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7
U.S.C. 9), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission may enforce
that violation in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same
jurisdiction, powers, and remedies available to the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission under such section 6(c), without regard to whether
that transaction would otherwise (but for the operation of this
subsection) constitute a violation of such section 6(c).
(f) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission shall jointly issue such rules as
may be necessary to carry out this section.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PRIORITIZED ACCESS TO COVERED SOCIAL MEDIA
ACCOUNTS.
(a) Prohibition.--
(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for a social media
platform, directly or indirectly, to knowingly offer, provide,
sell, license, or otherwise make available prioritized access
to a communication issued through a covered social media
account.
(2) Rules of construction.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall
be construed to restrict--
(A) the ability of a social media platform to offer
prioritized access to a communication issued through an
account or profile that is not a covered social media
account;
(B) the use by a social media platform of
algorithmic content ranking or the delivery of content
or information intended for a specific user at no
additional cost to the user and on the basis of data
held by the social media platform that identifies, or
is used to predict, content or information that could
be of interest to that user;
(C) the ability of a social media platform to offer
prioritized access directly to a Federal, territorial,
Tribal, State, or local agency or to first responders
and a segment of the public at the direction of such an
agency, for the purpose of communicating information
concerning public health or public safety, or in the
event of emergency or disaster, provided that no fee is
charged to any third-party recipient of such
prioritized access; or
(D) the offering, provision, or licensing by a
social media platform of programmatic, application
programming interface, or data-licensing access to a
communication issued through a covered social media
account, provided that such access--
(i) is offered on reasonable terms that do
not discriminate among recipients of comparable
programmatic or data-licensing access;
(ii) does not make the communication
available to a person, or class of persons,
before the communication is generally
available; and
(iii) does not confer any advantage in
timing or latency, relative to the general
availability of the communication, that is
conditioned on the payment of a fee or on
membership in a closed or restricted class of
recipients.
(b) Civil Penalties.--
(1) In general.--A social media platform that violates
subsection (a) shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount
equal to the total revenue received by the platform for the
prioritized access that gave rise to the violation.
(2) Recovery.--The Attorney General may bring a civil
action in an appropriate district court of the United States to
recover a civil penalty under paragraph (1).
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