Civil Rights Modernization Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3184 To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that such section has no effect on civil rights laws with respect to the tar- geting of covered advertisements, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Ms. CLARKE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that such section has no effect on civil rights laws with respect to the targeting of covered advertise- ments, 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 ‘‘Civil Rights Mod- 4 ernization Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3184.IH H3184 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3184 IH SEC. 2. NO EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS WITH RESPECT 1 TO TARGETING OF COVERED ADVERTISE- 2 MENTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230(e) of the Commu- 4 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by 5 adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS WITH 7 RESPECT TO TARGETING OF COVERED ADVERTISE- 8 MENTS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 9 to impair or limit, with respect to the targeting of 10 a covered advertisement by a provider of an inter- 11 active computer service— 12 ‘‘(A) an investigation under, or the en- 13 forcement of, any civil rights law; 14 ‘‘(B) any claim in an administrative or 15 civil action arising under any civil rights law; or 16 ‘‘(C) any charge in a criminal prosecution 17 for a violation of any civil rights law.’’. 18 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 230(f) of the Commu- 19 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)) is amended by 20 adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(5) CIVIL RIGHTS LAW.—The term ‘civil rights 22 law’ means— 23 ‘‘(A) any Federal, State, or local law, any 24 part of which prohibits discrimination or other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3184.IH H3184 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3184 IH adverse action on the basis of a protected class 1 or status; 2 ‘‘(B) any other Federal law that is admin- 3 istered or enforced, in whole or in part, by the 4 Civil Rights Division of the Department of Jus- 5 tice; or 6 ‘‘(C) any Federal, State, or local law that 7 prohibits the dissemination of false or mis- 8 leading information intended, with respect to an 9 election for public office, to prevent voters from 10 casting their ballots or to prevent voters from 11 voting for the candidate of their choice. 12 ‘‘(6) TARGETING.—The term ‘targeting’ means 13 the use by a provider of an interactive computer 14 service of any information technology, including an 15 algorithm or a software application, to deliver or 16 show a covered advertisement to any particular sub- 17 set of users who are part of or have a protected 18 class or status. 19 ‘‘(7) COVERED ADVERTISEMENT.—The term 20 ‘covered advertisement’ means an advertisement for 21 the delivery or publishing of which a provider of an 22 interactive computer service receives any consider- 23 ation (monetary or otherwise) directly from the ad- 24 vertiser. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3184.IH H3184 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3184 IH ‘‘(8) PROTECTED CLASS OR STATUS.—The term 1 ‘protected class or status’ means actual or perceived 2 race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex 3 (including sexual orientation and gender identity), 4 age, disability, familial status, pregnancy, genetic in- 5 formation, or citizenship or immigration status. 6 ‘‘(9) GENETIC INFORMATION.—The term ‘ge- 7 netic information’ has the meaning given such term 8 in section 201 of the Genetic Information Non- 9 discrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff).’’. 10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 this section shall apply with respect to the targeting of 12 a covered advertisement that occurs on or after the date 13 of the enactment of this Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3184.IH H3184 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS