Protecting Democracy From Disinformation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7012 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit online platforms and certain intermediaries from targeting the dissemination of political advertisements to a specific group of individuals on the basis of online behavioral data or on the basis of demographic character- istics shared by members of the group, to require online platforms and certain intermediaries to maintain public records of certain political advertisements, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 26, 2020 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. LYNCH) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra- tion A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit online platforms and certain intermediaries from targeting the dissemination of political advertisements to a specific group of individuals on the basis of online behavioral data or on the basis of demographic character- istics shared by members of the group, to require online platforms and certain intermediaries to maintain public records of certain political advertisements, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7012 IH 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 ‘‘Protecting Democracy 4 From Disinformation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS 6 DISSEMINATED BY ONLINE PLATFORMS OR 7 ARRANGED FOR DISSEMINATION BY CERTAIN 8 INTERMEDIARIES. 9 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Title III of the Federal Elec- 10 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 11 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 12 ‘‘SEC. 325. REQUIREMENTS FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISE- 13 MENTS DISSEMINATED BY ONLINE PLAT- 14 FORMS OR ARRANGED FOR DISSEMINATION 15 BY CERTAIN INTERMEDIARIES. 16 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTIONS ON MICROTARGETING.— 17 ‘‘(1) RESTRICTIONS ON ADVERTISEMENTS TAR- 18 GETED AT GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS ON BASIS OF ON- 19 LINE BEHAVIORAL DATA.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 21 paragraph (3), a covered online platform may 22 not target the dissemination of a qualified polit- 23 ical advertisement, and a covered intermediary 24 may not arrange for the dissemination of a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7012 IH qualified political advertisement, to a specific 1 group of individuals on the basis of any online 2 behavioral data of such individuals. 3 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR DISSEMINATION 4 TO INDIVIDUALS ON LIST PROVIDED BY SPON- 5 SOR OF ADVERTISEMENT.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A covered online 7 platform which targets the dissemination 8 of a qualified political advertisement to a 9 specific group of individuals on a list pro- 10 vided by the sponsor of the advertisement, 11 and a covered intermediary which arranges 12 for the dissemination of a qualified polit- 13 ical advertisement to a specific group of in- 14 dividuals on a list provided by the sponsor 15 of the advertisement, shall not be consid- 16 ered to be in violation of this paragraph if 17 the platform or intermediary made a good 18 faith effort to ensure that individuals are 19 not included on the list on the basis of 20 their online behavioral data. 21 ‘‘(ii) SAFE HARBOR FOR PLATFORMS 22 AND INTERMEDIARIES REQUIRING CERTIFI- 23 CATION BY ADVERTISER.—For purposes of 24 clause (i), a covered online platform and a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7012 IH covered intermediary shall be considered to 1 have made a good faith effort to ensure 2 that the individuals on a list provided by 3 the sponsor of a qualified political adver- 4 tisement are not included on the list on the 5 basis of their online behavioral data if the 6 platform or intermediary requires the ad- 7 vertiser to certify that each individual on 8 the list subscribed to the list or consented 9 to being included on the list. 10 ‘‘(C) ONLINE BEHAVIORAL DATA DE- 11 FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘online be- 12 havioral data’ means, with respect to an indi- 13 vidual, information that is tracked, collected, or 14 maintained about an individual’s actions or ac- 15 tivities online, including information relating to 16 an individual’s activity across businesses, dis- 17 tinctly branded websites, applications, or serv- 18 ices, but does not include information relating 19 to an individual’s activity with a business, dis- 20 tinctly branded website, application, or service 21 with which the individual intentionally interacts. 22 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON ADVERTISEMENTS TAR- 23 GETED AT GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS ON BASIS OF 24 SHARED DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTIC.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7012 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 paragraph (3), a covered online platform may 2 not target the dissemination of a qualified polit- 3 ical advertisement, and a covered intermediary 4 may not arrange for the dissemination of a 5 qualified political advertisement, to a specific 6 group of individuals on the basis of any demo- 7 graphic characteristic shared by members of 8 such group unless— 9 ‘‘(i) the demographic characteristic is 10 described in subparagraph (B); and 11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered online 12 platform, the platform disseminates with 13 the advertisement the accompanying state- 14 ment described in paragraph (4). 15 ‘‘(B) DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS 16 DESCRIBED.—The demographic characteristics 17 described in this subparagraph with respect to 18 a group of individuals are the following: 19 ‘‘(i) The age of the members of the 20 group. 21 ‘‘(ii) The gender of the members of 22 the group. 23 ‘‘(iii) The geographic area in which 24 the members of the group reside, except 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7012 IH that such area may not be smaller than the 1 ZIP Code in which the members of the 2 group reside. 3 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 4 in paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit 5 a covered online platform or a covered inter- 6 mediary from using online behavioral data (as 7 described in such paragraph) with respect to an 8 individual to determine the demographic char- 9 acteristics described in subparagraph (B) which 10 apply to such individual. 11 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR TARGETING ON A CON- 12 TEXTUAL BASIS.— 13 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) and 14 (2) do not apply if— 15 ‘‘(i) a covered online platform targets 16 the dissemination of a qualified political 17 advertisement, or a covered intermediary 18 arranges for the dissemination of a quali- 19 fied political advertisement, to a specific 20 group of individuals on a contextual basis 21 as described in subparagraph (B); and 22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered online 23 platform, the platform disseminates with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7012 IH the advertisement the accompanying state- 1 ment described in paragraph (4). 2 ‘‘(B) DISSEMINATION OF ADVERTISE- 3 MENTS ON CONTEXTUAL BASIS.—For purposes 4 of subparagraph (A), a covered online platform 5 disseminates a qualified political advertisement 6 on a contextual basis, and a covered inter- 7 mediary arranges for the dissemination of a 8 qualified political advertisement on a contextual 9 basis, if the advertisement involved is dissemi- 10 nated solely on the basis of the content that the 11 individual is viewing on the covered online plat- 12 form at the same time the advertisement ap- 13 pears on the covered online platform and is not 14 otherwise disseminated on the basis of online 15 behavioral data with respect to such individual. 16 ‘‘(4) ACCOMPANYING STATEMENT DE- 17 SCRIBED.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The accompanying 19 statement described in this paragraph is, with 20 respect to a qualified political advertisement, a 21 statement made in a clear and conspicuous 22 manner which states that the dissemination of 23 the advertisement is targeted to a specific 24 group of individuals and which includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7012 IH ‘‘(i) in the case of the statement re- 1 quired under paragraph (2)(A), a descrip- 2 tion of the demographic characteristic on 3 which the group was targeted; and 4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of the statement re- 5 quired under paragraph (3)(A), a descrip- 6 tion of the content on which the dissemina- 7 tion of the advertisement is based. 8 ‘‘(B) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING 9 CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—For pur- 10 poses of subparagraph (A), a statement shall be 11 considered to be made in a clear and con- 12 spicuous manner if the statement is displayed 13 onscreen above the qualified political advertise- 14 ment in the format in which the advertisement 15 appears. 16 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC- 17 TION.— 18 ‘‘(A) RIGHT TO FILE ACTION.—An ag- 19 grieved person alleging a violation of this sub- 20 section may bring a civil action against any cov- 21 ered online platform or covered intermediary in 22 an appropriate district court for damages, de- 23 claratory, injunctive relief, or any other relief 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7012 IH the court deems appropriate with respect to the 1 violation. 2 ‘‘(B) DAMAGES.—(i) If the court finds 3 that the defendant violated this subsection or 4 the regulations prescribed under this sub- 5 section, the court may, in its discretion, award 6 up to $100,000 in damages to plaintiff per vio- 7 lation. 8 ‘‘(ii) If the court finds that the defendant 9 knowingly and willfully violated this subsection 10 or the regulations prescribed under this sub- 11 section, the court may, in its discretion, in- 12 crease the amount of the award to an amount 13 equal to not more than 3 times the amount per 14 violation available under clause (i). 15 ‘‘(C) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action 16 under this paragraph, the court may allow the 17 prevailing party (other than the United States) 18 reasonable attorney fees, including litigation ex- 19 penses, and costs. 20 ‘‘(D) RELATION TO OTHER REMEDIES.— 21 The remedy established by this paragraph is in 22 addition to all other rights and remedies pro- 23 vided under this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7012 IH ‘‘(E) INJURY IN FACT.—If a court finds 1 that the defendant violated this section, the 2 court shall find that such violation constitutes 3 a concrete and particularized injury in fact to 4 the plaintiff. 5 ‘‘(F) TREATMENT OF MANDATORY 6 PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS AND 7 PREDISPUTE JOINT ACTION WAIVERS.—Any 8 agreement to arbitrate an alleged dispute of 9 this subsection that has not yet arisen at the 10 time of making the agreement or any agree- 11 ment that would otherwise prohibit, or waive 12 the right of, one of the parties to the agreement 13 to participate in a joint, class, or collection ac- 14 tion in federal court, concerning a dispute due 15 to an alleged violation of this subsection that 16 has not yet arisen at the time of making the 17 agreement shall be deemed invalid and unen- 18 forceable for purposes of civil action arising out 19 of an alleged violation of this subsection, not- 20 withstanding any other provision of law. 21 ‘‘(b) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS OF QUALIFIED PO- 22 LITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7012 IH ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLAT- 1 FORMS AND COVERED INTERMEDIARIES.— 2 ‘‘(i) RECORDS OF REQUESTS TO PUR- 3 CHASE ADVERTISEMENTS.—A covered on- 4 line platform and a covered intermediary 5 shall maintain, and make available for on- 6 line public inspection in a machine read- 7 able format which is searchable on the 8 basis of any of the information described 9 in paragraph (2), a complete record of any 10 request to purchase on such platform (or, 11 in the case of a covered intermediary, of 12 any request to purchase an arrangement 13 for the dissemination by the intermediary 14 of) a qualified political advertisement 15 which is made by a person the value of 16 whose aggregate requests to purchase 17 qualified political advertisements on such 18 online platform or to purchase arrange- 19 ments for the dissemination of qualified 20 political advertisements by the inter- 21 mediary (as the case may be) during the 22 calendar year exceeds $500. 23 ‘‘(ii) ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTI- 24 FICATION NUMBER.—The covered online 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7012.IH H7012 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7012 IH platform and the covered intermediary 1 shall assign a unique identification number 2 to each person described in clause (i), and 3 shall use that same number with respect to 4 all information relating to such person 5 which is included in the record the plat- 6 form or intermediary maintains and makes 7 available under this subsection. If the per- 8 son is a candidate, the platform or inter- 9 mediary shall assign to the person the 10 same identification number assigned to the 11 person by the Commission for purposes of 12 filing reports under this Act. 13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVER- 14 TISERS.— 15 ‘‘(i) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.— 16 Any person who requests to purchase a 17 qualified political advertisement on a cov- 18 ered online platform, or who requests to 19 purchase an arrangement for the dissemi- 20 nation of a qualified political advertisement 21 by a covered intermediary, shall provide 22 the online platform or intermediary with 23 such information as is necessary for the 24 online platform or intermediary to comply 25 VerDate [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]