See Something, Say Something Online Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 27 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 JANUARY 22, 2021 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 counterintel- ligence activities relating to international terrorism, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘See Something, Say 4 Something Online Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 27 IS (1) section 230 of the Communications Act of 1 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) (commonly known as the 2 ‘‘Communications Decency Act of 1996’’) was never 3 intended to provide legal protection for websites or 4 interactive computer services that do nothing after 5 becoming aware of instances of individuals or groups 6 planning, committing, promoting, and facilitating 7 terrorism, serious drug offenses, and violent crimes; 8 (2) it is not the intent of this Act to remove or 9 strip all liability protection from websites or inter- 10 active computer services that are proactively working 11 to resolve these issues; and 12 (3) should websites or interactive service pro- 13 viders fail to exercise due care in the implementa- 14 tion, filing of the suspicious transmission activity re- 15 ports, and reporting of major crimes, Congress in- 16 tends to look at removing liability protections under 17 the Communications Decency Act of 1996 in its en- 18 tirety. 19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this Act: 21 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 22 means the Department of Justice. 23 (2) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The 24 term ‘‘interactive computer service’’ has the meaning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 27 IS given the term in section 230 of the Communica- 1 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230). 2 (3) KNOWN SUSPICIOUS TRANSMISSION.—The 3 term ‘‘known suspicious transmission’’ is any sus- 4 picious transmission that an interactive computer 5 service should have reasonably known to have oc- 6 curred or have been notified of by a director, officer, 7 employ, agent, interactive computer service user, or 8 State or Federal law enforcement agency. 9 (4) MAJOR CRIME.—The term ‘‘major crime’’ 10 means a Federal criminal offense— 11 (A) that is a crime of violence (as defined 12 in section 16 of title 18, United States Code); 13 (B) relating to domestic or international 14 terrorism (as those terms are defined in section 15 2331 of title 18, United States Code); and 16 (C) that is a serious drug offense (as de- 17 fined in section 924(e) of title 18, United 18 States Code). 19 (5) STAR.—The term ‘‘STAR’’ means a sus- 20 picious transmission activity report required to be 21 submitted under section 3. 22 (6) SUSPICIOUS TRANSMISSION.—The term 23 ‘‘suspicious transmission’’ means any public or pri- 24 vate post, message, comment, tag, transaction, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 27 IS any other user-generated content or transmission 1 that commits, facilitates, incites, promotes, or other- 2 wise assists the commission of a major crime. 3 SEC. 4. REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY. 4 (a) MANDATORY REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS TRANS- 5 MISSIONS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a provider of an inter- 7 active computer service detects a suspicious trans- 8 mission, the interactive computer service, including 9 any director, officer, employee, agent, or representa- 10 tive of such provider, shall submit to the Depart- 11 ment a STAR describing the suspicious transmission 12 in accordance with this section. 13 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 15 subparagraph (C), a STAR required to be sub- 16 mitted under paragraph (1) shall be submitted 17 not later than 30 days after the date on which 18 the interactive computer service— 19 (i) initially detects the suspicious 20 transmission; or 21 (ii) is alerted to the suspicious trans- 22 mission on the platform of such service. 23 (B) IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION.—In the 24 case of a suspicious transmission that requires 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 27 IS immediate attention, such as an active sale or 1 solicitation of sale of drugs or a threat of ter- 2 rorist activity, the provider of an interactive 3 computer service shall— 4 (i) immediately notify, by telephone, 5 an appropriate law enforcement authority; 6 and 7 (ii) file a STAR in accordance with 8 this section. 9 (C) DELAY OF SUBMISSION.—The 30-day 10 period described in subparagraph (A) may be 11 extended by 30 days if the provider of an inter- 12 active computer service provides a valid reason 13 to the agency designated or established under 14 subsection (b)(2). 15 (b) REPORTING PROCESS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 17 establish a process by which a provider of an inter- 18 active computer service may submit STARs under 19 this section. 20 (2) DESIGNATED AGENCY.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this 22 section, the Attorney General shall designate an 23 agency within the Department, or, if the Attor- 24 ney General determines appropriate, establish a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 27 IS new agency within the Department, to which 1 STARs should be submitted under subsection 2 (a). 3 (B) CONSUMER REPORTING.—The agency 4 designated or established under subparagraph 5 (A) shall establish a centralized online resource, 6 which may be used by individual members of 7 the public to report suspicious activity related 8 to major crimes for investigation by the appro- 9 priate law enforcement or regulatory agency. 10 (C) COOPERATION WITH INDUSTRY.—The 11 agency designated or established under sub- 12 paragraph (A)— 13 (i) may conduct training for enforce- 14 ment agencies and for providers of inter- 15 active computer services on how to cooper- 16 ate in reporting suspicious activity; 17 (ii) may develop relationships for pro- 18 motion of reporting mechanisms and re- 19 sources available on the centralized online 20 resource required to be established under 21 subparagraph (B); and 22 (iii) shall coordinate with the National 23 White Collar Crime Center to convene ex- 24 perts to design training programs for State 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 27 IS and local law enforcement agencies, which 1 may include using social media, online ads, 2 paid placements, and partnering with ex- 3 pert non-profit organizations to promote 4 awareness and engage with the public. 5 (c) CONTENTS.—Each STAR submitted under this 6 section shall contain, at a minimum— 7 (1) the name, location, and other such identi- 8 fication information as submitted by the user to the 9 provider of the interactive computer service; 10 (2) the date and nature of the post, message, 11 comment, tag, transaction, or other user-generated 12 content or transmission detected for suspicious activ- 13 ity such as time, origin, and destination; and 14 (3) any relevant text, information, and metada- 15 ta related to the suspicious transmission. 16 (d) RETENTION OF RECORDS AND NONDISCLO- 17 SURE.— 18 (1) RETENTION OF RECORDS.—Each provider 19 of an interactive computer service shall— 20 (A) maintain a copy of any STAR sub- 21 mitted under this section and the original 22 record equivalent of any supporting documenta- 23 tion for the 5-year period beginning on the date 24 on which the STAR was submitted; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 27 IS (B) make all supporting documentation 1 available to the Department and any appro- 2 priate law enforcement agencies upon request; 3 and 4 (C) not later than 30 days after the date 5 on which the interactive computer service sub- 6 mits a STAR under this section, take action 7 against the website or account reported unless 8 the provider of an interactive computer service 9 receives a notification from a law enforcement 10 agency that the website or account should re- 11 main open. 12 (2) NONDISCLOSURE.—Except as otherwise 13 prescribed by the Attorney General, no provider of 14 an interactive computer service, or officer, director, 15 employee, or agent of such a provider, subject to an 16 order under subsection (a) may disclose the exist- 17 ence of, or terms of, the order to any person. 18 (e) DISCLOSURE TO OTHER AGENCIES.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 20 the Attorney General shall— 21 (A) ensure that STARs submitted under 22 this section and reports from the public sub- 23 mitted under subsection (b)(2)(B) are referred 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 27 IS as necessary to the appropriate Federal, State, 1 or local law enforcement or regulatory agency; 2 (B) make information in a STAR sub- 3 mitted under this section available to an agen- 4 cy, including any State financial institutions su- 5 pervisory agency or United States intelligence 6 agency, upon request of the head of the agency; 7 and 8 (C) develop a strategy to disseminate rel- 9 evant information in a STAR submitted under 10 this section in a timely manner to other law en- 11 forcement and government agencies, as appro- 12 priate, and coordinate with relevant nongovern- 13 mental entities, such as the National Center for 14 Missing and Exploited Children. 15 (2) LIMITATION.—The Attorney General may 16 only make a STAR available under paragraph (1) 17 for law enforcement purposes. 18 (f) COMPLIANCE.—Any provider of an interactive 19 computer service that fails to report a known suspicious 20 transmission shall not be immune from civil or criminal 21 liability for such transmission under section 230(c) of the 22 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)). 23 (g) APPLICATION OF FOIA.—Any STAR submitted 24 under this section, and any information therein or record 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 27 IS thereof, shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552 1 of title 5, United States Code, or any similar State, local, 2 Tribal, or territorial law. 3 (h) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180 4 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 5 General shall promulgate regulations to carry out this sec- 6 tion. 7 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 8 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub- 9 mit to Congress a report describing the plan of the De- 10 partment for implementation of this Act, including a 11 breakdown of the costs associated with implementation. 12 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 13 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 14 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 15 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT. 16 Section 230(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 17 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(6) LOSS OF LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR 20 FAILURE TO SUBMIT SUSPICIOUS TRANSMISSION AC- 21 TIVITY REPORT.— 22 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Any provider of an 23 interactive computer service shall take reason- 24 able steps to prevent or address unlawful users 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 27 IS of the service through the reporting of sus- 1 picious transmissions. 2 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any provider 3 of an interactive computer service that fails to 4 report a known suspicious transmission may be 5 held liable as a publisher for the related sus- 6 picious transmission. 7 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 8 in this paragraph shall be construed to impair 9 or limit any claim or cause of action arising 10 from the failure of a provider of an interactive 11 computer service to report a suspicious trans- 12 mission.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S27.IS S27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS