Bot Disclosure and Accountability Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4536 To protect the right of the American public under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to receive news and information from disparate sources by regulating the use of automated software programs intended to impersonate or replicate human activity on social media. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. SHERRILL, and Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To protect the right of the American public under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to receive news and information from disparate sources by regulating the use of automated software programs intended to impersonate or replicate human activity on social media. 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 ‘‘Bot Disclosure and 4 Accountability Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4536 IH SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 2 Government has a compelling interest in— 3 (1) mitigating the deceptiveness of social media 4 bots, which impersonate human activity online, 5 through public disclosure requirements that impose 6 a minimal burden on rights protected under the 7 First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 8 States; and 9 (2) mitigating the effectiveness of efforts by 10 foreign entities to influence United States elections 11 through the use of social media bots to spread mis- 12 information and propaganda. 13 SEC. 3. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF SOFTWARE PROGRAMS IN- 14 TENDED TO IMPERSONATE OR REPLICATE 15 HUMAN ACTIVITY. 16 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section— 18 (A) the term ‘‘automated software pro- 19 gram or process intended to impersonate or 20 replicate human activity online’’ has the mean- 21 ing given the term by the Commission by regu- 22 lation under paragraph (2); 23 (B) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the 24 Federal Trade Commission; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4536 IH (C) the term ‘‘social media provider’’ 1 means any person that owns or operates a so- 2 cial media website; and 3 (D) the term ‘‘social media website’’ means 4 any tool, website, application, or other media 5 that connects users on the internet for the pur- 6 pose of engaging in dialogue, sharing informa- 7 tion, collaborating, and interacting. 8 (2) DEFINITION BY REGULATION.—Not later 9 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 10 the Commission shall promulgate regulations under 11 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to define 12 the term ‘‘automated software program or process 13 intended to impersonate or replicate human activity 14 online’’ broadly enough so that the definition is not 15 limited to current technology. 16 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 17 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall pro- 18 mulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5, United 19 States Code, to require a social media provider to establish 20 and implement policies and procedures to require a user 21 of a social media website owned or operated by the social 22 media provider to publicly disclose the use of any auto- 23 mated software program or process intended to imper- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4536 IH sonate or replicate human activity online on the social 1 media website. 2 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating regulations 3 under subsection (b), the Commission shall require a so- 4 cial media provider to establish and implement, for each 5 social media website owned or operated by the social media 6 provider— 7 (1) a policy that requires any user of the social 8 media website that employs an automated software 9 program or process intended to impersonate or rep- 10 licate human activity online on the social media 11 website to provide clear and conspicuous notice of 12 the automated program in clear and plain language 13 to any other person or user of the social media 14 website who may be exposed to activities conducted 15 by the automated program; 16 (2) a process that allows a user of the social 17 media website to provide clear and conspicuous no- 18 tice to any other person or user as required under 19 paragraph (1); 20 (3) a process to identify, assess, and verify 21 whether the activity of any user of the social media 22 website is conducted by an automated software pro- 23 gram or process intended to impersonate or replicate 24 human activity online; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4536 IH (4) a process by which the social media provider 1 will take reasonable preventative and corrective ac- 2 tion to mitigate efforts by a user to use an auto- 3 mated software program or process intended to im- 4 personate or replicate human activity online without 5 disclosure as required under paragraph (1), which 6 may include suspension or any other action author- 7 ized by the Commission; 8 (5) a process by which the social media provider 9 will remove posts, images, or any other online activ- 10 ity of a user or profile making use of an automated 11 software program or process intended to imper- 12 sonate or replicate human activity online that is not 13 in compliance with the policy under paragraph (1); 14 and 15 (6) a process that allows a human user of the 16 social media website the opportunity to demonstrate 17 that the online activity of the user is in compliance 18 with the policy required under paragraph (1) prior 19 to, or immediately following, any mitigation activity 20 described in paragraph (4) or (5). 21 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 22 tion shall be construed to require any social media pro- 23 vider to permit an automated software program or process 24 intended to impersonate or replicate human activity online 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4536 IH on a social media website owned or operated by the social 1 media provider. 2 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 3 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC- 4 TICES.—A violation of a regulation promulgated 5 under subsection (b) shall be treated as a violation 6 of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or prac- 7 tice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Fed- 8 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 9 57a(a)(1)(B)). 10 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 12 subparagraph (C), the Commission shall enforce 13 this section in the same manner, by the same 14 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, 15 and duties as though all applicable terms and 16 provisions of the Federal Trade Commission 17 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated 18 into and made a part of this section. 19 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Ex- 20 cept as provided in subparagraph (C), any per- 21 son who violates subsection (b) shall be subject 22 to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 23 and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 24 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4536 IH (C) COMMON CARRIERS AND NONPROFIT 1 ORGANIZATIONS.—Notwithstanding section 4, 2 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission 3 Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any juris- 4 dictional limitation of the Commission, the 5 Commission shall also enforce this section, in 6 the same manner provided in subparagraphs 7 (A) and (B) of this paragraph, with respect 8 to— 9 (i) common carriers subject to the 10 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 11 151 et seq.) and Acts amendatory thereof 12 and supplementary thereto; and 13 (ii) organizations not organized to 14 carry on business for their own profit or 15 that of their members. 16 (D) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 17 this section shall be construed to limit the au- 18 thority of the Commission under any other pro- 19 vision of law. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4536.IH H4536 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS