SAFE TECH Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3421 To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to reaffirm civil rights, victims’ rights, and consumer protections. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mr. LEVIN of Cali- fornia) 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 reaffirm civil rights, victims’ rights, and consumer protections. 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Against 4 Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer 5 Harms Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE TECH Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT IMPROVEMENTS. 7 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 8 U.S.C. 230) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3421 IH (1) in subsection (c)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and in- 3 serting the following: 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 5 paragraph (3), no provider’’; 6 (ii) by striking ‘‘any information’’ and 7 inserting ‘‘any speech’’; 8 (iii) by inserting before the period at 9 the end the following: ‘‘, unless the pro- 10 vider or user has accepted payment to 11 make the speech available or, in whole or 12 in part, created or funded the creation of 13 the speech’’; and 14 (iv) by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(B) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In any ac- 17 tion in which the defendant raises subpara- 18 graph (A) as a defense, the defendant shall 19 have the burden of persuasion, by a preponder- 20 ance of the evidence, that the defendant is a 21 provider or user of an interactive computer 22 service and is being treated as the publisher or 23 speaker of speech provided by another informa- 24 tion content provider.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3421 IH (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 1 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 2 (A)’’; and 3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION FROM ‘GOOD SAMARITAN’ IM- 5 MUNITY.— 6 ‘‘(A) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Paragraph (1) 7 shall not apply to any request for injunctive re- 8 lief arising from the failure of an interactive 9 computer service provider to remove, restrict 10 access to or availability of, or prevent dissemi- 11 nation of material that is likely to cause irrep- 12 arable harm. 13 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—In the 14 case of an interactive computer service provider 15 that complies with an order granting injunctive 16 relief described in subparagraph (A), such com- 17 pliance shall not subject the interactive com- 18 puter service provider to liability for removing, 19 restricting access to or availability of, or pre- 20 venting dissemination of material subject to the 21 order.’’; and 22 (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3421 IH ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS.— 1 Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, 2 impair, or prevent any action alleging discrimination 3 on the basis of any protected class, or conduct that 4 has the effect or consequence of discriminating on 5 the basis of any protected class, under any Federal 6 or State law. 7 ‘‘(7) NO EFFECT ON ANTITRUST LAWS.—Noth- 8 ing in this section shall be construed to prevent, im- 9 pair, or limit any action brought under Federal or 10 State antitrust law. 11 ‘‘(8) NO EFFECT ON STALKING, HARASSMENT, 12 OR INTIMIDATION LAWS.—Nothing in this section 13 shall be construed to prevent, impair, or limit any 14 action alleging stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, 15 cyberharassment, or intimidation based, in whole or 16 in part, on sex (including sexual orientation and 17 gender identity), race, color, religion, ancestry, na- 18 tional origin, or physical or mental disability brought 19 under Federal or State law. 20 ‘‘(9) NO EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN 21 RIGHTS LAW.—Nothing in this section shall be con- 22 strued to prevent, impair, or limit any action 23 brought under section 1350 of title 28, United 24 States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3421 IH ‘‘(10) NO EFFECT ON WRONGFUL DEATH AC- 1 TIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 2 to prevent, impair, or limit any civil action for a 3 wrongful death.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS