Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4534 To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the scope of protection from civil liability for ‘‘good Samaritan’’ blocking and screening of offensive material. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the scope of protection from civil liability for ‘‘good Samaritan’’ blocking and screening of offensive material. 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 ‘‘Online Freedom and 4 Viewpoint Diversity Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4534.IS S4534 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4534 IS SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM CIVIL LIABILITY FOR ‘‘GOOD 1 SAMARITAN’’ BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF 2 OFFENSIVE MATERIAL. 3 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 4 U.S.C. 230) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (c)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 7 (i) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and in- 8 serting the following: 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No provider’’; and 10 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) 14 shall not apply to any decision or agree- 15 ment made or action taken by a provider 16 or user of an interactive computer service 17 to restrict access to or availability of mate- 18 rial provided by another information con- 19 tent provider. 20 ‘‘(ii) CIVIL LIABILITY.—Any applica- 21 ble immunity for a decision or agreement 22 made or action taken by a provider or user 23 of an interactive computer service de- 24 scribed in clause (i) shall be provided solely 25 by paragraph (2).’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4534.IS S4534 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4534 IS (B) in paragraph (2)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 2 (I) by striking ‘‘considers to be’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘has an objectively rea- 4 sonable belief is’’; and 5 (II) by striking ‘‘or otherwise ob- 6 jectionable’’ and inserting ‘‘promoting 7 self-harm, promoting terrorism, or un- 8 lawful’’; and 9 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 10 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 11 graph (A)’’; and 12 (2) in subsection (f)(3)— 13 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; and 16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITY.—For purposes of 18 subparagraph (A), being responsible in whole or 19 in part for the creation or development of infor- 20 mation— 21 ‘‘(i) includes any instance in which a 22 person or entity editorializes or affirma- 23 tively and substantively modifies the con- 24 tent of another person or entity; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4534.IS S4534 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4534 IS ‘‘(ii) does not include a change to the 1 format, layout, or basic appearance of the 2 content of another person or entity.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Sep 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4534.IS S4534 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS