[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2264 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2264
To allow for civil and criminal actions against certain providers of
interactive computer services, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 12, 2023
Mr. Ossoff introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To allow for civil and criminal actions against certain providers of
interactive computer services, 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 ``Fentanyl Trafficking Prevention
Act''.
SEC. 2. LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT VIOLATIONS.
(a) In General.--Part D of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
841 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 424. LIABILITY OF INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS.
``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `covered provider'
means a provider of an interactive computer service, as that term is
defined in section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
230), that at any point during the 12 months preceding the filing of an
indictment or information alleging a violation of subsection (b) or the
filing of a complaint in a civil action under subsection (c)--
``(1) has not fewer than 50,000,000 United States-based
monthly active users; or
``(2) has not fewer than 100,000,000 worldwide monthly
active users.
``(b) Criminal Offense.--
``(1) Offense.--It shall be unlawful for a covered provider
that operates through the use of any facility or means of
interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or
foreign commerce, through such service to knowingly or
intentionally facilitate a violation of section 401(a)(1), 409,
418, or 419 for distributing, dispensing, or possessing with
intent to distribute or dispense--
``(A) an opioid or a synthetic opioid;
``(B) cocaine; or
``(C) methamphetamine.
``(2) Penalty.--A covered provider that violates paragraph
(1) shall be fined not more than $10,000,000.
``(c) Civil Action.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may bring a civil
action in an appropriate district court of the United States
against any covered provider that operates through the use of
any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce or in
or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, and through such
service, intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly facilitates a
violation of section 401(a)(1), 409, 418, or 419 for
distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to
distribute or dispense--
``(A) an opioid or a synthetic opioid;
``(B) cocaine; or
``(C) methamphetamine.
``(2) Penalty.--In a civil action brought under paragraph
(1), the Attorney General may recover a civil penalty of not
more than $5,000,000.
``(d) Rules of Construction.--
``(1) Applicability to legal process.--Nothing in this
section shall be construed to apply to any action by a covered
provider that is necessary to comply with a valid court order,
subpoena, search warrant, statutory obligation, or preservation
request from a law enforcement agency.
``(2) Mental state with respect to each item required.--For
purposes of subsections (b) and (c), the terms `intentionally',
`knowingly', and `recklessly' shall be construed to mean
intentionality, knowledge, or recklessness, respectively, with
respect to the facilitation of each violation described in
those subsections.
``(e) Encryption Technologies.--
``(1) Cybersecurity protections do not give rise to
liability.--A criminal prosecution under subsection (b) or a
civil action under subsection (c) may not be brought against a
covered provider because the covered provider--
``(A) utilizes full end-to-end encrypted messaging
services, device encryption, or other encryption
services;
``(B) does not possess the information necessary to
decrypt a communication; or
``(C) fails to take an action that would otherwise
undermine the ability of the covered provider to offer
full end-to-end encrypted messaging services, device
encryption, or other encryption services.
``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection is
intended to undermine the use of encryption technology.
``(f) Protection of Privacy.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to require a covered provider to--
``(1) monitor any user, subscriber, or customer of that
covered provider;
``(2) monitor the content of any communication of any
person described in paragraph (1); or
``(3) affirmatively search, screen, or scan for violations
described in subsection (b)(1) or (c)(1).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after
the item relating to section 423 the following:
``Sec. 424. Liability of interactive computer service providers.''.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL CIVIL LIABILITY.
Section 230(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) No effect on certain claims or charges pertaining to
certain drugs.--Nothing in this section, other than subsection
(c)(2)(A), shall be construed to impair or limit any claim in a
civil action brought against a provider of an interactive
computer service under section 424(c) of the Controlled
Substances Act.''.
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the
application of such a provision or amendment to any person or
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions
of this Act and amendments made by this Act, and the application of
such provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall
not be affected thereby.
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