COLLUDE Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1525 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to address governmental inter- ference in content moderation decisions by providers of interactive com- puter services, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. SCHMITT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to address gov- ernmental interference in content moderation decisions by providers of interactive computer services, 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 ‘‘Curtailing Online Lim- 4 itations that Lead Unconstitutionally to Democracy’s Ero- 5 sion Act’’ or the ‘‘COLLUDE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1525.IS S1525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1525 IS SEC. 2. CONTENT MODERATION, CREATION AND DEVELOP- 1 MENT, AND DISTRIBUTION. 2 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 3 U.S.C. 230) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (c)— 5 (A) in paragraph (1)— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and in- 7 serting the following: 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 9 graph (B), no provider’’; and 10 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(B) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In a crimi- 13 nal or civil action against a provider or user of 14 an interactive computer service that treats the 15 provider or user as the publisher or speaker of 16 any information, the provider or user shall bear 17 the burden of proving that the provider or user 18 is not an information content provider with re- 19 spect to that information for purposes of sub- 20 paragraph (A).’’; 21 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 22 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 23 (A)’’; and 24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1525.IS S1525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1525 IS ‘‘(3) LOSS OF PROTECTION IN CASES OF GOV- 1 ERNMENTAL CENSORSHIP.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 3 subparagraph (B), this subsection shall not 4 apply to a provider of an interactive computer 5 service that restricts access to or availability of 6 material— 7 ‘‘(i) in a manner that reasonably ap- 8 pears to express, promote, limit the visi- 9 bility of, or suppress legitimate political 10 speech, including a discernible viewpoint; 11 and 12 ‘‘(ii) as a result of a communication 13 that— 14 ‘‘(I) is sent to the provider by— 15 ‘‘(aa) a governmental entity; 16 or 17 ‘‘(bb) a non-governmental 18 entity that is acting at the re- 19 quest or behest of a govern- 20 mental entity; and 21 ‘‘(II) the applicable entity under 22 subclause (I) sends only to the pro- 23 vider and not to any other entity. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1525.IS S1525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1525 IS ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A communication that 1 is for a legitimate law enforcement purpose or 2 a national security purpose shall not be consid- 3 ered to be a communication that is described in 4 subparagraph (A)(ii).’’; and 5 (2) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(5) LEGITIMATE LAW ENFORCEMENT PUR- 8 POSE.—The term ‘legitimate law enforcement pur- 9 pose’ means, with respect to a communication, that 10 the purpose of the communication is so that a law 11 enforcement agency can, within the lawful authority 12 of that agency, investigate a criminal offense. 13 ‘‘(6) NATIONAL SECURITY PURPOSE.—The term 14 ‘national security purpose’ means, with respect to a 15 communication, that the purpose of the communica- 16 tion relates to— 17 ‘‘(A) intelligence activities; 18 ‘‘(B) cryptologic activities that relate to 19 the national security of the United States; 20 ‘‘(C) command and control of the Armed 21 Forces; 22 ‘‘(D) equipment that is an integral part of 23 a weapon or a weapons system; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1525.IS S1525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1525 IS ‘‘(E) the direct fulfillment of a military or 1 intelligence mission.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1525.IS S1525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS