What This Bill Does
This bill requires website and internet service providers to report suspicious online content related to terrorism, drug offenses and violent crimes to the Department of Justice. The bill aims to help law enforcement investigate these crimes while establishing a public reporting system for citizens to flag suspicious activity online.
##
Who It Affects
- Websites and interactive computer service providers (companies that host user-generated content)
- Directors, officers, employees and agents of these companies
- The Department of Justice
- Law enforcement agencies at federal, state and local levels
- Individual members of the public who want to report suspicious activity
- People whose accounts or websites are reported
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Key Provisions
- Websites must submit a Suspicious Transmission Activity Report (STAR) to the Department of Justice within 30 days of detecting suspicious content, or within an extended 30-day period if they provide a valid reason (Sec. 4(a)(2))
- For urgent cases like active drug sales or terrorist threats, providers must immediately call law enforcement and then file a STAR (Sec. 4(a)(2)(B))
- Each STAR must include the user's name and location information, the date and nature of the suspicious content, and any related text and metadata (Sec. 4(c))
- Websites must keep records of all STARs and supporting documents for 5 years and make them available to law enforcement upon request (Sec. 4(d)(1))
- Websites that fail to report suspicious content lose legal protection from liability and can be sued as publishers of that content (Sec. 4(f))
- The Attorney General must establish a centralized online resource where the public can report suspicious activity related to major crimes (Sec. 4(b)(2)(B))
- STARs are exempt from public disclosure under Freedom of Information Act requests (Sec. 4(g))
##
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, websites will be legally required to report specific types of suspicious content to the federal government or lose important legal protections that currently shield them from liability. Currently, websites have broad immunity from lawsuits related to user-generated content. This bill removes that immunity for websites that fail to report known suspicious transmissions about terrorism, violent crimes or drug offenses.
Websites must also take action against reported accounts or websites within 30 days unless law enforcement tells them not to (Sec. 4(d)(1)(C)).
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Important Definitions
- **Interactive computer service**: A company or platform that allows users to generate and share content (defined by reference to existing law but not fully spelled out in this bill)
- **Suspicious transmission**: Any public or private post, message, comment, tag, transaction or other user-generated content that commits, helps with, encourages, promotes or assists a major crime (Sec. 3(6))
- **Known suspicious transmission**: Content that a provider either should have reasonably known about or was told about by a director, officer, employee, user or law enforcement agency (Sec. 3(3))
- **Major crime**: A federal criminal offense that is a violent crime, relates to domestic or international terrorism, or is a serious drug offense (Sec. 3(4))
- **STAR**: A Suspicious Transmission Activity Report that providers must submit (Sec. 3(5))
##
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 147
To require reporting of suspicious transmissions in order to assist in criminal
investigations and counterintelligence activities relating to international
terrorism, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY 30, 2023
Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To require reporting of suspicious transmissions in order
to assist in criminal investigations and counterintel-
ligence activities relating to international terrorism, 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 ‘‘See Something, Say
4
Something Online Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
6
It is the sense of Congress that—
7
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•S 147 IS
(1) section 230 of the Communications Act of
1
1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) (commonly known as the
2
‘‘Communications Decency Act of 1996’’) was never
3
intended to provide legal protection for websites or
4
interactive computer service providers that do noth-
5
ing after becoming aware of instances of individuals
6
or groups planning, committing, promoting, and fa-
7
cilitating terrorism, serious drug offenses, and vio-
8
lent crimes;
9
(2) it is not the intent of this Act to remove or
10
strip all liability protection from websites or inter-
11
active
computer
service
providers
that
are
12
proactively working to resolve these issues; and
13
(3) should websites or interactive computer
14
service providers fail to exercise due care in the im-
15
plementation, filing of the suspicious transmission
16
activity reports, and reporting of major crimes, Con-
17
gress intends to look at removing liability protections
18
under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 in
19
its entirety.
20
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
21
In this Act:
22
(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’
23
means the Department of Justice.
24
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•S 147 IS
(2) INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER
SERVICE.—The
1
term ‘‘interactive computer service’’ has the meaning
2
given the term in section 230 of the Communica-
3
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230).
4
(3) KNOWN
SUSPICIOUS
TRANSMISSION.—The
5
term ‘‘known suspicious transmission’’ means any
6
suspicious transmission that a provider of an inter-
7
active computer service—
8
(A) should have reasonably known to have
9
occurred; or
10
(B) was notified of by a director, officer,
11
employee, agent, interactive computer service
12
user, or State or Federal law enforcement agen-
13
cy.
14
(4) MAJOR CRIME.—The term ‘‘major crime’’
15
means a Federal criminal offense—
16
(A) that is a crime of violence (as defined
17
in section 16 of title 18, United States Code);
18
(B) relating to domestic or international
19
terrorism (as those terms are defined in section
20
2331 of title 18, United States Code); or
21
(C) that is a serious drug offense (as de-
22
fined in section 924(e) of title 18, United
23
States Code).
24
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•S 147 IS
(5) STAR.—The term ‘‘STAR’’ means a sus-
1
picious transmission activity report required to be
2
submitted under section 3.
3
(6) SUSPICIOUS
TRANSMISSION.—The term
4
‘‘suspicious transmission’’ means any public or pri-
5
vate post, message, comment, tag, transaction, or
6
any other user-generated content or transmission
7
that commits, facilitates, incites, promotes, or other-
8
wise assists the commission of a major crime.
9
SEC. 4. REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY.
10
(a) MANDATORY REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS TRANS-
11
MISSIONS.—
12
(1) IN GENERAL.—If a provider of an inter-
13
active computer service detects a suspicious trans-
14
mission, the provider, including any director, officer,
15
employee, agent, or representative of the provider,
16
shall submit to the Department a STAR describing
17
the suspicious transmission in accordance with this
18
section.
19
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—
20
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
21
subparagraph (C), a STAR required to be sub-
22
mitted under paragraph (1) shall be submitted
23
not later than 30 days after the date on which
24
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•S 147 IS
the provider of an interactive computer serv-
1
ice—
2
(i) initially detects the suspicious
3
transmission; or
4
(ii) is alerted to the suspicious trans-
5
mission on the platform of such service.
6
(B) IMMEDIATE
NOTIFICATION.—In the
7
case of a suspicious transmission that requires
8
immediate attention, such as an active sale or
9
solicitation of sale of drugs or a threat of ter-
10
rorist activity, the provider of an interactive
11
computer service shall—
12
(i) immediately notify, by telephone,
13
an appropriate law enforcement authority;
14
and
15
(ii) file a STAR in accordance with
16
this section.
17
(C) DELAY OF SUBMISSION.—The 30-day
18
period described in subparagraph (A) may be
19
extended by 30 days if the provider of an inter-
20
active computer service provides a valid reason
21
to the agency designated or established under
22
subsection (b)(2).
23
(b) REPORTING PROCESS.—
24
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•S 147 IS
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall
1
establish a process by which a provider of an inter-
2
active computer service may submit STARs under
3
this section.
4
(2) DESIGNATED AGENCY.—
5
(A) IN
GENERAL.—In carrying out this
6
section, the Attorney General shall designate an
7
agency within the Department, or, if the Attor-
8
ney General determines appropriate, establish a
9
new agency within the Department, to which
10
STARs should be submitted under subsection
11
(a).
12
(B) CONSUMER REPORTING.—The agency
13
designated or established under subparagraph
14
(A) shall establish a centralized online resource,
15
which may be used by individual members of
16
the public to report suspicious activity related
17
to major crimes for investigation by the appro-
18
priate law enforcement or regulatory agency.
19
(C) COOPERATION WITH INDUSTRY.—The
20
agency designated or established under sub-
21
paragraph (A)—
22
(i) may conduct training for enforce-
23
ment agencies and for providers of inter-
24
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•S 147 IS
active computer services on how to cooper-
1
ate in reporting suspicious activity;
2
(ii) may develop relationships for pro-
3
motion of reporting mechanisms and re-
4
sources available on the centralized online
5
resource required to be established under
6
subparagraph (B); and
7
(iii) shall coordinate with the National
8
White Collar Crime Center to convene ex-
9
perts to design training programs for State
10
and local law enforcement agencies, which
11
may include using social media, online ads,
12
paid placements, and partnering with ex-
13
pert non-profit organizations to promote
14
awareness and engage with the public.
15
(c) CONTENTS.—Each STAR submitted under this
16
section shall contain, at a minimum—
17
(1) the name, location, and other such identi-
18
fication information as submitted by the user to the
19
provider of the interactive computer service;
20
(2) the date and nature of the post, message,
21
comment, tag, transaction, or other user-generated
22
content or transmission detected for suspicious activ-
23
ity such as time, origin, and destination; and
24
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•S 147 IS
(3)
any
relevant
text,
information,
and
1
metadata related to the suspicious transmission.
2
(d) RETENTION
OF RECORDS
AND NONDISCLO-
3
SURE.—
4
(1) RETENTION OF RECORDS.—Each provider
5
of an interactive computer service shall—
6
(A) maintain a copy of any STAR sub-
7
mitted under this section and the original
8
record equivalent of any supporting documenta-
9
tion for the 5-year period beginning on the date
10
on which the STAR was submitted;
11
(B) make all supporting documentation
12
available to the Department and any appro-
13
priate law enforcement agencies upon request;
14
and
15
(C) not later than 30 days after the date
16
on which the provider submits a STAR under
17
this section, take action against the website or
18
account reported unless the provider receives a
19
notification from a law enforcement agency that
20
the website or account should remain open.
21
(2) NONDISCLOSURE.—Except as otherwise
22
prescribed by the Attorney General, no provider of
23
an interactive computer service, or officer, director,
24
employee, or agent of such a provider, subject to an
25
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•S 147 IS
order under subsection (a) may disclose the exist-
1
ence of, or terms of, the order to any person.
2
(e) DISCLOSURE TO OTHER AGENCIES.—
3
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
4
the Attorney General shall—
5
(A) ensure that STARs submitted under
6
this section and reports from the public sub-
7
mitted under subsection (b)(2)(B) are referred
8
as necessary to the appropriate Federal, State,
9
or local law enforcement or regulatory agency;
10
(B) make information in a STAR sub-
11
mitted under this section available to an agen-
12
cy, including any State financial institutions su-
13
pervisory agency or United States intelligence
14
agency, upon request of the head of the agency;
15
and
16
(C) develop a strategy to disseminate rel-
17
evant information in a STAR submitted under
18
this section in a timely manner to other law en-
19
forcement and government agencies, as appro-
20
priate, and coordinate with relevant nongovern-
21
mental entities, such as the National Center for
22
Missing and Exploited Children.
23
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•S 147 IS
(2) LIMITATION.—The Attorney General may
1
only make a STAR available under paragraph (1)
2
for law enforcement purposes.
3
(f) COMPLIANCE.—Any provider of an interactive
4
computer service that fails to report a known suspicious
5
transmission shall not be immune from civil or criminal
6
liability for such transmission under section 230(c) of the
7
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)).
8
(g) APPLICATION OF FOIA.—Any STAR submitted
9
under this section, and any information therein or record
10
thereof, shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552
11
of title 5, United States Code, or any similar State, local,
12
Tribal, or territorial law.
13
(h) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180
14
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney
15
General shall promulgate regulations to carry out this sec-
16
tion.
17
(i) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date
18
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub-
19
mit to Congress a report describing the plan of the De-
20
partment for implementation of this Act, including a
21
breakdown of the costs associated with implementation.
22
(j) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
23
are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General
24
such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
25
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•S 147 IS
SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT.
1
Section 230(e) of the Communications Act of 1934
2
(47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by adding at the end the
3
following:
4
‘‘(6) LOSS
OF
LIABILITY
PROTECTION
FOR
5
FAILURE TO SUBMIT SUSPICIOUS TRANSMISSION AC-
6
TIVITY REPORT.—
7
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph,
8
the terms ‘known suspicious transmission’ and
9
‘suspicious transmission’ have the meanings
10
given those terms in section 3 of the See Some-
11
thing, Say Something Online Act of 2023.
12
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Any provider of an
13
interactive computer service shall take reason-
14
able steps to prevent or address unlawful users
15
of the service through the reporting of sus-
16
picious transmissions.
17
‘‘(C) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any provider
18
of an interactive computer service that fails to
19
report a known suspicious transmission may be
20
held liable as a publisher for the related sus-
21
picious transmission.
22
‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing
23
in this paragraph shall be construed to impair
24
or limit any claim or cause of action arising
25
from the failure of a provider of an interactive
26
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•S 147 IS
computer service to report a suspicious trans-
1
mission.’’.
2
Æ
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