[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2338 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2338
To improve fairness in political speech, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 14, 2021
Mr. Daines introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve fairness in political speech, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preserving Political Speech Online
Act''.
SEC. 2. FAIRNESS IN POLITICAL ADVERTISING.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this section, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking
proceeding in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States
Code, to require any online platform or third party advertiser that
displays, hosts, or otherwise allows the advertisement of a legally
qualified candidate in an election for Federal office to abide by the
following rules of fair access and equal opportunity:
(1) Any online platform or third party advertiser who
permits a legally qualified candidate in an election for
Federal office to display or otherwise post an advertisement on
such online platform or through such third party advertiser
shall afford equal advertisement opportunities to any other
legally qualified candidate for such office in such election.
(2) Any online platform or third party advertiser shall
charge comparable rates to each legally qualified candidate for
any advertising service described in paragraph (1).
(3) Any online platform or third party advertiser shall
have no power of censorship over the content of any
advertisement described in this subsection.
(b) Transparency Requirement.--An online platform shall maintain,
and make available online for public inspection in a machine readable
format, a complete record of any purchase of an advertising service by
a legally qualified candidate on such online platform within 24 hours
of such purchase.
(c) Enforcement by the Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
subsection (a) or (b) or a rule promulgated thereunder shall be
treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or a
deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
(2) Powers of the commission.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall enforce this
section in the same manner, by the same means, and with
the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated
into and made a part of this section.
(B) Privileges and immunities.--Any person who
violates subsection (a) or (b) or a rule promulgated
thereunder shall be subject to the penalties and
entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et
seq.).
(C) Authority preserved.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to limit the authority of the
Federal Trade Commission under any other provision of
law.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Election.--The term ``election'' has the meaning given
that term in section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101).
(3) Federal office.--The term ``Federal office'' has the
meaning given that term in section 301 of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101).
(4) Legally qualified candidate.--The term ``legally
qualified candidate'' has the meaning given that term for
purposes of section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 315).
(5) Online platform.--The term ``online platform'' means
any public-facing website, web application, or digital
application, including a social network, video streaming
service, advertisement network, or search engine.
(6) Third party advertiser.--The term ``third party
advertiser'' means any advertisement agency, company, or
website developer that distributes or serves advertisements on
an affiliated or unaffiliated online platform.
SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY REQUIREMENTS TO ADDITIONAL LICENSEES.
Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 344. APPLICATION OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PRINCIPLES TO LICENSEES
THAT SERVE POLITICAL ADVERTISING THROUGH OTHER MEANS.
``Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
section, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to apply the
principles of equal opportunity under sections 312(a)(7) and 315 to any
licensee that--
``(1) displays, hosts, or otherwise allows the
advertisement of a legally qualified candidate for any public
office; and
``(2) is not already subject to those principles under this
Act or under a regulation promulgated by the Commission.''.
SEC. 4. PROTECTION FOR ``GOOD SAMARITAN'' BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF
OFFENSIVE MATERIAL.
Section 230(c)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
230(c)(2)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses
(i) and (ii), respectively, and adjusting the margins
accordingly;
(2) in clause (i), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``filthy,''; and
(B) by striking ``harassing, or otherwise
objectionable, whether or not such material is
constitutionally protected'' and inserting ``harassing
or threatening, or promoting illegal activity'';
(3) in clause (ii), as so redesignated, by striking
``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``clause (i)'';
(4) in the matter preceding clause (i), as so redesignated,
by striking ``No provider or user'' and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--No provider or user''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Prohibition of bad faith blocking and
screening.--
``(i) In general.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A)(i), it shall not be considered
good faith for a provider of an interactive
computer service to block, censor, or screen
material on the grounds of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, or political
affiliation or speech.
``(ii) Exception.--Clause (i) shall not
apply to a provider of an interactive computer
service that operates services dedicated to a
specific set of issues, policies, beliefs, or
viewpoints.''.
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