II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5339 

To support research about the impact of digital communication platforms 

on society by providing privacy-protected, secure pathways for independent research on data held by large internet companies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2022 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. CASSIDY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To support research about the impact of digital communication platforms on society by providing privacy-protected, 

secure pathways for independent research on data held 

by large internet companies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Platform Accountability and Transparency Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Qualified research projects, qualified researchers, and qualified data and 

information. 

Sec. 4. Obligations and immunity for platforms. 

Sec. 5. Obligations and immunity for qualified researchers. 

Sec. 6. Reporting. 

Sec. 7. Enforcement. 

Sec. 8. Amendment to the Communications Decency Act. 

Sec. 9. Establishing a safe harbor for research on social media platforms. 

Sec. 10. Rulemaking authority. 

Sec. 11. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 12. Severability. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

5 (2) CHAIR.—The term ‘‘Chair’’ means the 

6 Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. 

7 (3) NSF.—The term ‘‘NSF’’ means the Na8 tional Science Foundation. 

9 (4) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘per10 sonal information’’ means any information, regard11 less of how the information is collected, inferred, or 

12 obtained that is linked or reasonably linkable to a 

13 specific consumer or consumer device. 

14 (5) PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘platform’’ means 

15 any entity subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal 

16 Trade Commission under section 5(a)(2) of the Fed17 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)) 

18 that— 


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1 (A) operates a website, desktop applica2 tion, augmented or virtual reality application, 

3 or mobile application that— 

4 (i) permits a person to become a reg5 istered user, establish an account, or create 

6 a profile for the purpose of allowing the 

7 user to create, share, and view user-gen8 erated content through such an account or 

9 profile; 

10 (ii) enables one or more users to gen11 erate content that can be viewed by other 

12 users of the platform; and 

13 (iii) primarily serves as a medium for 

14 users to interact with content generated by 

15 other users of the platform and for the 

16 platform to deliver ads to users; and 

17 (B) has at least 50,000,000 unique month18 ly users in the United States for a majority of 

19 the months in the most recent 12-month period. 

20 (6) QUALIFIED DATA AND INFORMATION.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), the term ‘‘qualified data and infor23 mation’’ means data and information from a 

24 platform— 


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1 (i) that the NSF determines is nec2 essary to allow a qualified researcher to 

3 carry out a qualified research project; and 

4 (ii) that— 

5 (I) is feasible for the platform to 

6 provide; 

7 (II) is proportionate to the needs 

8 of the qualified researchers to com9 plete the qualified research project; 

10 (III) will not cause the platform 

11 undue burden in providing the data 

12 and information to the qualified re13 searcher; and 

14 (IV) would not be otherwise 

15 available to the qualified researcher. 

16 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in17 clude any of the following: 

18 (i) Direct and private messages be19 tween users. 

20 (ii) Biometric information, such as a 

21 fingerprint, voiceprint, eye retinas, irises, 

22 or other unique biological patterns or char23 acteristics. 

24 (iii) Precise geospatial information. 

25 (7) QUALIFIED RESEARCHER.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the term ‘‘qualified researcher’’ 

3 means a researcher affiliated with a United 

4 States university or a United States nonprofit 

5 organization (as described in section 501(c) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) that is spe7 cifically identified in a research proposal that is 

8 approved as a qualified research project pursu9 ant to section 3. 

10 (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not in11 clude a researcher who is affiliated with a Fed12 eral, State, local, or tribal law enforcement or 

13 intelligence agency. 

14 (8) QUALIFIED RESEARCH PROJECT.—The 

15 term ‘‘qualified research project’’ means a research 

16 plan that has been approved pursuant to section 3. 

17 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

18 the 50 States of the United States, the District of 

19 Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American 

20 Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 

21 (10) USER.—The term ‘‘user’’ means a person 

22 that uses a platform for any purpose, including ad23 vertisers and sellers, regardless of whether that per24 son has an account or is otherwise registered with 

25 the platform. 


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1 SEC. 3. QUALIFIED RESEARCH PROJECTS, QUALIFIED RE2 SEARCHERS, AND QUALIFIED DATA AND IN3 FORMATION. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the NSF and the Com6 mission shall jointly establish a research program to re7 view research applications for approval as qualified re8 search projects. 

9 (b) RESEARCH PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The re10 search program established by the NSF and the Commis11 sion under this section shall— 

12 (1) provide that the NSF shall— 

13 (A) establish a process to solicit research 

14 applications in order to identify qualified re15 search projects; 

16 (B) review research applications for sci17 entific merit; 

18 (C) ensure research applications identify 

19 proposed qualified researchers; 

20 (D) publish guidelines and criteria to be 

21 used by the NSF in determining how it will re22 view research applications seeking approval to 

23 be a qualified research project; 

24 (E) identify, in consultation with the Com25 mission, what data and information in a plat26 form’s possession will be qualified data and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jan 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5339.IS S5339

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1 formation for the purposes of carrying out a 

2 qualified research project; 

3 (F) ensure that approved research applica4 tions do not request data described in section 

5 2(6)(B); and 

6 (G) prescribe and publish guidelines and 

7 criteria, in consultation with the Commission, 

8 used to determine how the NSF and Commis9 sion will identify qualified data and information 

10 necessary to conduct a qualified research 

11 project; 

12 (2) provide that the Commission shall— 

13 (A) review research applications for pri14 vacy and cybersecurity risks; 

15 (B) establish appropriate privacy and cy16 bersecurity safeguards that a platform must im17 plement in the provision of, and with which 

18 qualified researchers must comply to access, 

19 qualified data and information that a platform 

20 is required to share with qualified researchers 

21 pursuant to a qualified research project, and 

22 such safeguards— 

23 (i) must account for the relative sensi24 tivity of the qualified data and information 


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1 involved and be sufficient to protect such 

2 data and information; and 

3 (ii) may include alternative protec4 tions, as appropriate and in consideration 

5 of the aims of the qualified research 

6 project, including— 

7 (I) encryption of the data in 

8 transit and when not in use; 

9 (II) delivery of the data in a for10 mat that employs methods to prevent 

11 qualified researchers from identifying 

12 individuals in the dataset; 

13 (III) data access logs; and 

14 (IV) keystroke logs; 

15 (C) in the case of each qualified research 

16 project, consider whether to require the plat17 form to provide a secure physical or virtual en18 vironment to facilitate delivery of the qualified 

19 data and information; 

20 (D) establish appropriate privacy and cy21 bersecurity safeguards that a qualified re22 searcher must implement when receiving, stor23 ing, or analyzing qualified data and information 

24 or generating new data using such qualified 

25 data and information, including inferential data 


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1 based on such qualified data and information, 

2 and such safeguards may include a requirement 

3 that a qualified researcher delete qualified data 

4 and information after completion of a qualified 

5 research project, however any such safeguard 

6 must provide the qualified researcher the ability 

7 to retain enough information about the quali8 fied data and information to allow the re9 searcher or their peers to recreate the qualified 

10 research project upon request to, and approval 

11 from, the NSF and Commission pursuant to 

12 this section; 

13 (E) publish a list of criteria for deter14 mining the privacy and cybersecurity safe15 guards required for qualified data and informa16 tion related to a qualified research project; 

17 (F) provide platforms with the opportunity 

18 to provide comment about the privacy and cy19 bersecurity safeguards required for a qualified 

20 research project; 

21 (G) provide researchers with the oppor22 tunity to provide comment about the privacy 

23 and cybersecurity safeguards required for a 

24 qualified research project; 


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1 (H) establish a process to ensure that 

2 qualified researchers will be able to comply with 

3 any such privacy and cybersecurity safeguards; 

4 and 

5 (I) publish a list of criteria for determining 

6 whether qualified researchers will be able to 

7 comply with any such privacy and cybersecurity 

8 safeguards; 

9 (3) provide that a research application may not 

10 be denied on grounds of the race, color, age, sex, na11 tional origin, political affiliation, or disability of the 

12 researcher; 

13 (4) provide that a research application shall not 

14 be approved as a qualified research project unless 

15 it— 

16 (A) has been approved by an institutional 

17 review board; 

18 (B) has been deemed exempt from institu19 tional review board review; or 

20 (C) is excluded from the criteria for insti21 tutional review board review; 

22 (5) provide a platform the opportunity to com23 ment on and appeal the approval of a qualified re24 search project for which the platform is required to 


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1 provide qualified data and information to the NSF 

2 and Commission on the grounds that— 

3 (A) the platform cannot provide the quali4 fied data and information; 

5 (B) providing access to the qualified data 

6 and information would lead to significant 

7 vulnerabilities in the security of the platform’s 

8 service or user privacy; or 

9 (C) the privacy and cybersecurity safe10 guards established by the Commission are not 

11 sufficient to protect the qualified data and in12 formation; and 

13 (6) require that any analysis by a qualified re14 searcher derived from a qualified research project 

15 that the qualified researcher intends to publish un16 dergo prepublication review by the Commission to 

17 ensure that the analysis does not expose personal in18 formation, or trade secrets. 

19 (c) QUALIFIED RESEARCHER CAPACITY.—A qualified 

20 research project may not proceed unless the proposed 

21 qualified researchers can demonstrate that they have the 

22 capacity to comply with the privacy and cybersecurity 

23 safeguards established for the qualified research project. 

24 (d) AIM OF PROJECT.—A research application shall 

25 not be approved as a qualified research project unless it 


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1 is in the public interest, aims to study activity on a plat2 form, and is used for noncommercial purposes. 

3 (e) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determination by the 

4 Commission and the NSF under this section regarding 

5 whether a research application will be deemed a qualified 

6 research project shall not be subject to judicial review. 

7 (f) NO GOVERNMENT ACCESS.—If a platform pro8 vides qualified data and information to a qualified re9 searcher, no government entity may seek access to such 

10 qualified data and information from the qualified re11 searcher. 

12 (g) RESEARCHER CONSORTIA.—The Commission and 

13 NSF shall establish procedures and necessary safeguards 

14 under this section that allow for consortia of researchers 

15 to apply to seek data for the purpose of conducting a se16 ries of qualified research projects. 

17 SEC. 4. OBLIGATIONS AND IMMUNITY FOR PLATFORMS. 

18 (a) PROVISION OF QUALIFIED DATA AND INFORMA19 TION.—A platform shall provide access to qualified data 

20 and information relating to a qualified research project to 

21 a qualified researcher under the terms and privacy and 

22 cybersecurity safeguards dictated by the Commission for 

23 the purpose of carrying out the qualified research project. 

24 (b) CONTINUED ACCESS TO QUALIFIED DATA AND

25 INFORMATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A platform may not restrict 

2 or terminate a qualified researcher’s access to quali3 fied data and information for an ongoing qualified 

4 research project unless the platform has a reason5 able belief that the qualified researcher is not acting 

6 in accordance with the cybersecurity and privacy 

7 safeguards required for the qualified research 

8 project. 

9 (2) NOTICE AND REVIEW OF CHANGE TO AC10 CESS.—If a platform restricts or terminates a quali11 fied researcher’s access to qualified data and infor12 mation for an ongoing qualified research project— 

13 (A) the platform shall, within a reasonable 

14 time (as established by the Commission), in15 form the Commission in writing that the plat16 form has restricted or terminated the qualified 

17 researcher’s access to the qualified data and in18 formation; and 

19 (B) the Commission shall promptly review 

20 the platform’s decision and determine whether 

21 the qualified researcher has violated the privacy 

22 and cybersecurity safeguards established for the 

23 qualified research project. 

24 (c) NOTICE TO PLATFORM USERS.—The Commission 

25 shall issue regulations requiring that platforms, through 


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1 posting of notices or other appropriate means, keep users 

2 informed of their privacy protections and the information 

3 that the platform is required to share with qualified re4 searchers under this Act. 

5 (d) SAFE HARBOR.—No cause of action under State 

6 or Federal law arising solely from the release of qualified 

7 data and information to qualified researchers in further8 ance of a qualified research project may be brought 

9 against any platform that complies with the Act. 

10 (e) RIGHT OF REVIEW.—If a platform fails to provide 

11 all of the qualified data and information required under 

12 the terms of a qualified research project to the qualified 

13 researcher conducting the project, the qualified researcher 

14 or the researcher’s affiliated university or nonprofit orga15 nization may bring an action in district court for injunc16 tive relief or petition the Commission to bring an enforce17 ment action against the platform. 

18 (f) SECURITY.—Nothing in this Act shall be con19 strued to restrict a platform’s ability to: 

20 (1) Take immediate steps to protect an interest 

21 that is essential for the life or physical safety of a 

22 natural person. 

23 (2) Respond to security incidents, identity theft, 

24 fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities, 

25 or illegal activity, preserve the integrity of security 


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1 of systems, or investigate or report those responsible 

2 for such actions. 

3 SEC. 5. OBLIGATIONS AND IMMUNITY FOR QUALIFIED RE4 SEARCHERS. 

5 (a) SCOPE OF PERMITTED USE OF QUALIFIED DATA

6 AND INFORMATION.—Each qualified researcher who ac7 cesses qualified data and information shall use the quali8 fied data and information— 

9 (1) only for the purposes of conducting research 

10 authorized under the terms of the qualified research 

11 project involved; and 

12 (2) in accordance with the privacy and cyberse13 curity safeguards prescribed by the Commission for 

14 the qualified research project. 

15 (b) PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.—A 

16 qualified researcher that is provided access to qualified 

17 data and information for purposes of a qualified research 

18 project may not— 

19 (1) attempt to reidentify, disclose, publish, or 

20 use for commercial purpose personal information de21 rived from such qualified data and information; or 

22 (2) disclose such qualified data and information 

23 to a third party for any reason. 

24 (c) EFFECT OF VIOLATION OF INFORMATION AND

25 PRIVACY STANDARDS.—Qualified researchers who intenVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jan 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5339.IS S5339

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1 tionally, recklessly, or negligently violate the privacy and 

2 cybersecurity safeguards prescribed by the Commission for 

3 a qualified research project may be subject to both civil 

4 and criminal enforcement, under applicable Federal, 

5 State, and local laws. The Commission may refer any such 

6 violation to the Department of Justice or the appropriate 

7 State law enforcement agency. 

8 SEC. 6. REPORTING. 

9 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the NSF and the 

11 Commission shall submit to the Congress a joint report 

12 regarding the operation of this Act, which shall include 

13 a detailed statement of all qualified research projects, in14 cluding with respect to each such project: 

15 (1) The identity of any authorized qualified re16 searcher and the institution the researcher is affili17 ated with. 

18 (2) The platforms required to provide qualified 

19 data and information to qualified researchers. 

20 (3) The categories of qualified data and infor21 mation each platform was required to provide. 

22 (4) The terms of the privacy and cybersecurity 

23 safeguards prescribed by the Commission to ensure 

24 the security of the qualified data and information. 


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1 (5) Any recommendations for improvements to 

2 the operation of this Act in order to facilitate its aim 

3 of providing enhanced platform transparency. 

4 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT. 

5 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A platform’s failure to com7 ply with subsection (a) or (b) of section 4, or a 

8 qualified researcher’s failure to comply with sub9 section (a) or (b) of section 5, shall be treated as a 

10 violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act 

11 or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of 

12 the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

14 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

16 enforce the provisions of this Act specified in 

17 paragraph (1) in the same manner, by the same 

18 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, 

19 and duties as though all applicable terms and 

20 provisions of the Federal Trade Commission 

21 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated 

22 into and made a part of this section. 

23 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

24 person that violates the provisions of this Act 

25 specified in paragraph (1) shall be subject to 


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1 the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and 

2 immunities, provided in the Federal Trade 

3 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

4 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall have the 

5 authority to promulgate, in the manner prescribed by 5 

6 U.S.C. 553, such rules and regulations as it may deem 

7 necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this Act. 

8 (c) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—Whenever 

9 the Commission shall have reason to believe that a plat10 form or qualified researcher has been or is in violation 

11 of any provision of this Act, the Commission may com12 mence a civil action in a district court of the United States 

13 for an injunction against the platform or qualified re14 searcher. Remedies in an injunctive action brought by the 

15 Commission are limited to an order enjoining, restraining, 

16 or preventing any act or practice that constitutes a viola17 tion of this Act and imposing a civil penalty of up to 

18 $10,000 for each violation, which shall accrue to the 

19 United States and may be recovered in a civil action 

20 brought by the Attorney General of the United States. 

21 Such penalty shall be in addition to other penalties as may 

22 be prescribed by law. 

23 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES AND OTHER COSTS.—In the 

24 event any enforcement action is appealed, the prevailing 

25 party in the action may, in the discretion of the court, 


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1 recover the costs of the action including reasonable inves2 tigative costs and attorneys’ fees. 

3 SEC. 8. AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY 

4 ACT. 

5 Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 

6 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)(1)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘No provider or user’’ and in8 serting the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), no provider or user’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(B) DATA ACCESS AND TRANSPARENCY

13 COMPLIANCE.— 

14 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara15 graph, the terms ‘platform’, ‘qualified data 

16 and information’, ‘qualified researcher’, 

17 and ‘qualified research project’ have the 

18 meanings given those terms in section 2 of 

19 the Platform Accountability and Trans20 parency Act. 

21 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY.— 

22 Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with re23 spect to a claim against a provider of an 

24 interactive computer service in a civil ac25 tion if— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the provider is a platform 

2 that has been determined by a final 

3 order of the Federal Trade Commis4 sion or a Federal court to have failed 

5 to provide qualified data and informa6 tion pursuant to a qualified research 

7 project, in violation of section 6(a) of 

8 the Platform Accountability and 

9 Transparency Act; and 

10 ‘‘(II) this failure to comply was a 

11 direct and substantial contributor to 

12 the harm alleged by the claimant that 

13 is the basis for the claim to relief.’’. 

14 SEC. 9. ESTABLISHING A SAFE HARBOR FOR RESEARCH ON 

15 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—No civil claim will lie, nor will any 

17 criminal liability accrue, against any person for collecting 

18 covered information as part of a news-gathering or re19 search project on a platform, so long as— 

20 (1) the information is collected through a cov21 ered method of digital investigation; 

22 (2) the purpose of the project is to inform the 

23 general public about matters of public concern; 

24 (3) with respect to information that is collected 

25 through a covered method of digital investigation— 


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1 (A) the information is not used except to 

2 inform the general public about matters of pub3 lic concern; and 

4 (B) the person takes reasonable measures 

5 to protect the privacy of the platform’s users; 

6 (4) with respect to the creation and use of a re7 search account, the person takes reasonable meas8 ures to avoid misleading the platform’s users; and 

9 (5) the project does not materially burden the 

10 technical operation of the platform. 

11 (b) REGULATIONS.—No later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

13 promulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5— 

14 (1) defining ‘‘covered method of digital inves15 tigation,’’ which phrase, as defined, must encom16 pass— 

17 (A) the collection of data from a platform’s 

18 user-facing interface through automated means; 

19 (B) the collection of data donated by a 

20 user, including through a browser extension or 

21 plug-in, where the donation is in connection 

22 with the project and with the user’s explicit 

23 consent; and 

24 (C) the creation or use of research ac25 counts; 


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1 (2) defining ‘‘covered information,’’ which 

2 phrase, as defined, must encompass— 

3 (A) publicly available information, except 

4 that such term should not exclude data merely 

5 because an individual must log into an account 

6 in order to see it; 

7 (B) information about ads shown on the 

8 platform, including the ads themselves, the ad9 vertiser’s name and disclosure string, and infor10 mation the platform provides to users about 

11 how an ad was targeted; and 

12 (C) any other category of information the 

13 collection of which the Commission determines, 

14 consistent with paragraph (3), will not unduly 

15 burden user privacy; 

16 (3) defining ‘‘reasonable measures to protect 

17 the privacy of the platform’s users’’ under sub18 section (a)(3), including by specifying the measures 

19 that must be taken to— 

20 (A) avoid the collection and retention of 

21 non-public information that would readily iden22 tify a user without that user’s consent; 

23 (B) prevent the theft and accidental disclo24 sure of any data collected; 


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1 (C) ensure that the data at issue is not 

2 used for any purpose other than to inform the 

3 general public about matters of public concern; 

4 and 

5 (D) restrict the publication or other disclo6 sure of any data that would readily identify a 

7 user without the user’s consent, except when 

8 such user is— 

9 (i) an advertiser and the data con10 cerns an advertisement; or 

11 (ii) a public official, candidate for 

12 public office, or public figure; 

13 (4) defining ‘‘reasonable measures to avoid mis14 leading the platform’s users’’ under subsection 

15 (a)(4); and 

16 (5) defining ‘‘materially burden the technical 

17 operation of a platform’’ under subsection (a)(5). 

18 (c) AMENDMENT OF REGULATIONS.—The Commis19 sion may, as necessary, in consultation with relevant 

20 stakeholders, amend regulations promulgated pursuant to 

21 subsection (b) to the extent such amendment will accom22 plish the purposes of this section. 

23 (d) REPORTING.—In December of each calendar year 

24 beginning with calendar year 2023, the Commission shall 

25 require each operator of any platform to submit an annual 


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1 report to the Commission that addresses whether the 

2 measures prescribed under subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) 

3 of this section are adequately protecting the platform’s 

4 users. 

5 (e) DEFINITION OF RESEARCH ACCOUNT.—For pur6 poses of this section, the term ‘‘research account’’ means 

7 an account on a platform that is created and used solely 

8 for the purposes of a news-gathering or research project 

9 that meets the requirements of subsection (a) and for no 

10 longer than is necessary to complete such project. 

11 SEC. 10. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. 

12 (a) ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the 

14 NSF, the Commission may, in accordance with sec15 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code, and subject 

16 to subsection (g), issue regulations that require plat17 forms to make available to qualified researchers 

18 data, metrics, or other information that the Commis19 sion determines will facilitate independent research 

20 in the public interest into activity on platforms. 

21 (2) FACTORS.—In exercising its authority 

22 under this subsection, the Commission shall consider 

23 the extent to which disclosures under this subsection 

24 may facilitate collaboration amongst qualified re25 searchers and alleviate burdens on platforms and 


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1 qualified researchers as compared to qualified re2 search projects conducted pursuant to section 3. 

3 (3) FORM AND FREQUENCY; RETENTION OF IN4 FORMATION.—The Commission shall specify in the 

5 regulations the required form and frequency of re6 porting or disclosures, as well as how long informa7 tion should be retained and made available. It may 

8 require the information be provided in a form that 

9 is accessible for analysis by qualified researchers, 

10 such as through an application programming inter11 face. 

12 (4) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall 

13 further consult with the National Institutes of 

14 Health and other relevant government agencies, as 

15 appropriate, in exercising its authority under this 

16 subsection. 

17 (5) APPLICABILITY OF PRIOR SECTIONS.—The 

18 Commission shall establish privacy and cybersecurity 

19 safeguards applicable to platforms and qualified re20 searchers for data made available to qualified re21 searchers under this section in the manner described 

22 in section 3 for data made available under that sec23 tion. The obligations and immunities for platforms 

24 and qualified researchers described in sections 4 and 

25 5 shall apply to data disclosed to qualified researchVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jan 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5339.IS S5339

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1 ers under this section, and the provisions of section 

2 7 may be invoked to enforce this section. 

3 (b) TRANSPARENCY OF CERTAIN CONTENT AND

4 USER ACCOUNTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

7 shall, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

8 United States Code, and subject to subsection (g), 

9 issue regulations to require platforms to make avail10 able to the public on an ongoing basis, in a specific 

11 section of their online interface, through a search12 able and reliable tool that allows multicriteria que13 ries and through application programming inter14 faces, a repository containing information regarding 

15 reasonably public content on the platform that— 

16 (A) has been highly disseminated; or 

17 (B) was originated or spread by major 

18 public accounts. 

19 (2) DISCLOSURE OF PUBLIC CONTENT

20 SAMPLINGS.—The regulations issued under para21 graph (1) shall further require platforms to disclose 

22 on an ongoing basis statistically representative 

23 samplings of reasonably public content, including, at 

24 a minimum, a sampling that is weighted by the 

25 number of impressions the content receives. 


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1 (3) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The informa2 tion required to be disclosed about content described 

3 in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall include, as appro4 priate— 

5 (A) the user-generated content itself, in6 cluding any text, images, videos, links, and key7 words; 

8 (B) platform-generated content displayed 

9 in connection with the user-generated content, 

10 including any dates, labels, disclaimers, or 

11 metrics; 

12 (C) metrics about the extent of dissemina13 tion of or engagement with the content, includ14 ing the number of impressions, reach, and en15 gagements; 

16 (D) information about the extent to which 

17 the content was recommended, amplified, or re18 stricted by platform algorithms or policies; 

19 (E) reasonably public information about 

20 the user accounts responsible for the content; 

21 and 

22 (F) public uniform resource locators that 

23 uniquely link to the content and identify related 

24 materials such as the parent content, replying 

25 content, and cross-posted content. 


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1 (4) HIGHLY DISSEMINATED CONTENT.—As part 

2 of the regulations issued under paragraph (1), the 

3 Commission shall define ‘‘highly disseminated’’ ac4 cording to metrics that the Commission deems ap5 propriate (which may include engagement, views, 

6 reach, impressions, or other metrics), provided that 

7 a piece of content must have been viewed by at least 

8 10,000 unique users to qualify. 

9 (5) MAJOR PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.—As part of the 

10 regulations issued under paragraph (1), the Com11 mission shall define ‘‘major public accounts’’ as it 

12 deems appropriate, provided that, at a minimum, 

13 ‘‘major public accounts’’ are restricted to reasonably 

14 public accounts whose content is followed by at least 

15 25,000 users or otherwise regularly reaches at least 

16 25,000 users per month. 

17 (6) TREATMENT OF CONTENT THAT HAS BEEN

18 REMOVED.—The regulations described in paragraph 

19 (1) shall provide guidance regarding disclosure of 

20 content that is removed by the user or platform sub21 sequent to its dissemination. 

22 (7) FREQUENCY.—To the extent practicable, 

23 the Commission shall require this information to be 

24 updated so as to provide a real-time understanding 

25 of the content described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 


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1 (c) TRANSPARENCY OF ADVERTISING.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

4 shall, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, and subject to subsection (g), 

6 issue regulations to require platforms to disclose on 

7 an ongoing basis information regarding advertising 

8 on the platform. These regulations shall require 

9 platforms to compile and disclose publicly in a spe10 cific section of their online interface, through a 

11 searchable and reliable tool that allows multicriteria 

12 queries and through application programming inter13 faces, a repository containing the information re14 ferred to in paragraph (2), for the entire period dur15 ing which they present an advertisement and until 

16 one year after the advertisement was presented for 

17 the last time on their online interfaces. Platforms 

18 shall ensure that the repository does not contain any 

19 personal data of the recipients of the service to 

20 whom the advertisement was or could have been pre21 sented. 

22 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The information 

23 required to be included in the repository required 

24 under paragraph (1) shall include at least all of the 

25 following information: 


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1 (A) The content of the advertisement, in2 cluding the name of the product, service or 

3 brand and the subject matter of the advertise4 ment. 

5 (B) The natural or legal person on whose 

6 behalf the advertisement is presented. 

7 (C) The natural or legal person who paid 

8 for the advertisement, if that person is different 

9 from the person referred to in subparagraph 

10 (B). 

11 (D) The period during which the advertise12 ment was presented. 

13 (E) Whether the advertisement was in14 tended to be presented specifically to one or 

15 more particular groups of recipients of the serv16 ice and if so, the main parameters used for that 

17 purpose including where applicable the main pa18 rameters used to exclude one or more of such 

19 particular groups. 

20 (F) The total number of recipients of the 

21 service reached and, where applicable, aggregate 

22 numbers broken down by group or groups of re23 cipients that the advertisement specifically tar24 geted. 


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1 (G) Information about the extent to which 

2 the advertisement was recommended, amplified, 

3 or restricted by platform algorithms or policies. 

4 (3) TREATMENT OF REMOVED ADS.—The regu5 lations described in paragraph (1) shall provide 

6 guidance regarding disclosure of ads that are re7 moved by the user or platform subsequent to its dis8 semination. 

9 (4) FREQUENCY.—To the extent practicable, 

10 the Commission shall require this information to be 

11 updated so as to provide a real-time understanding 

12 of the content described in paragraph (2). 

13 (d) TRANSPARENCY OF ALGORITHMS AND COMPANY

14 METRICS AND DATA.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in ac17 cordance with section 553 of title 5, United States 

18 Code, and subject to subsection (g), issue regula19 tions to require platforms to report publicly on their 

20 use of recommender or ranking algorithms and 

21 metrics. 

22 (2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The reporting 

23 required under paragraph (1) shall be at least semi24 annual and include, as appropriate— 


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1 (A) a description of all consumer-facing 

2 product features that made use of recommender 

3 or ranking algorithms during the reporting pe4 riod; 

5 (B) a summary of signals used as inputs 

6 to the described recommender or ranking algo7 rithms, including an explanation of which rely 

8 on user data, an explanation of the types of 

9 user data relied upon, and ranked based on the 

10 significance of their impact on the algorithms’ 

11 outputs; 

12 (C) a summary of the processes or pre13 dictions used by the platform to assess the sig14 nals incorporated into the recommender or 

15 ranking algorithm and to score or rank content 

16 (such as predictions of future user engage17 ment), ranked based on the significance of their 

18 impact on the algorithms’ outputs; 

19 (D) a summary of the optimization objec20 tives of the described recommender or ranking 

21 algorithms; 

22 (E) a summary of metrics calculated by 

23 the platform to assess product changes or new 

24 features, or as a basis to assess performance or 

25 calculate employee or executive compensation, 


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1 with an assessment of their relative importance 

2 in company decision making; 

3 (F) significant changes during the report4 ing period from the last report; and 

5 (G) other information about the rec6 ommender or ranking algorithms that the Com7 mission deems appropriate. 

8 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—In implementing this 

9 section, the Commission shall ensure that the report10 ing is useful and actionable while ensuring that plat11 forms are not required to disclose trade secrets. 

12 (e) TRANSPARENCY OF CONTENT MODERATION AND

13 VIOLATING CONTENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

16 shall, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

17 United States Code, and subject to subsection (g), 

18 issue regulations to require platforms to report on 

19 an ongoing basis information regarding content 

20 moderation and content violating platform policies. 

21 (2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The informa22 tion required to be disclosed under paragraph (1) 

23 shall include, as appropriate— 


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1 (A) statistics regarding the amount of con2 tent that the platform determined violated its 

3 policies, broken down by— 

4 (i) the violated policy; 

5 (ii) the action taken in response to the 

6 violation; 

7 (iii) the methods the platform used to 

8 identify the violating content (such as arti9 ficial intelligence, user report, human mod10 erator review, or other means); 

11 (iv) the extent to which the content 

12 was recommended, amplified, or restricted 

13 by platform algorithms or policies; and 

14 (v) geographic and demographic fac15 tors as the Commission deems appropriate; 

16 (B) statistics regarding the number of 

17 times violating content was viewed by users and 

18 the number of users who viewed it; 

19 (C) estimates by the platform about the 

20 prevalence of violating content (including as 

21 measured by the number of impressions of vio22 lating content), broken down by— 

23 (i) the violated policy; 

24 (ii) geographic and demographic fac25 tors; and 


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1 (iii) other factors the Commission 

2 deems appropriate; and 

3 (D) the number of orders received from 

4 governmental authorities, categorized by the 

5 type of illegal content concerned, and the aver6 age time needed for taking the action specified 

7 in those orders. 

8 (f) DATA DICTIONARIES.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

10 shall, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 

11 States Code, and subject to subsection (g), issue regula12 tions to require platforms to disclose, and update periodi13 cally, data dictionaries to inform and facilitate researcher 

14 data access requests. Such data dictionaries shall include 

15 descriptions of significant datasets in the platform’s pos16 session relating to content on, or users of, the platform, 

17 enforcement of content policy, or advertising, as necessary 

18 or appropriate to inform and facilitate researcher data ac19 cess requests. 

20 (g) PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND PLATFORM IN21 TEGRITY.—The Commission shall ensure that any report22 ing or disclosures required pursuant to this section do not 

23 infringe upon reasonable expectations of personal privacy 

24 of users of platforms or of other persons, or require dis25 semination of trade secrets. If necessary, the Commission 


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1 may require withholding of information otherwise required 

2 to be disclosed to meet this requirement. The Commission 

3 shall further consider the effect of disclosures on risks to 

4 platform integrity or the susceptibility of the platform to 

5 manipulation or inauthentic behavior, and may limit or re6 duce the information required to be disclosed if necessary 

7 to address a substantial such risk. 

8 (h) VARIATION.—In implementing this section, the 

9 Commission may vary the requirements it imposes on plat10 forms based on the size of the platform and scope of its 

11 services. 

12 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ENGAGEMENT.—The term ‘‘engagement’’ 

14 means, with respect to content on a platform, the 

15 number of times a user interacts with the content, 

16 whether through comments, indications of approval 

17 or disapproval (such as likes or dislikes), reshares, 

18 or any other form of active interaction. 

19 (2) IMPRESSION.—The term ‘‘impression’’ 

20 means, with respect to content on a platform, the 

21 display or delivery of the content to a user, regard22 less of whether the user engages with the content. 

23 (3) PREVALENCE OF VIOLATING CONTENT.— 

24 The term ‘‘prevalence of violating content’’ means a 

25 platform’s estimate of the number of impressions of 


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1 violating content among its users, regardless of 

2 whether the platform ever identifies that particular 

3 content as violating. 

4 (4) REACH.—The term ‘‘reach’’ means, with re5 spect to content on a platform, the number of users 

6 to whom the content is displayed or delivered during 

7 a particular period, regardless of how many times it 

8 is delivered to them. 

9 (5) REAL-TIME UNDERSTANDING.—The term 

10 ‘‘real-time understanding’’ means an understanding 

11 of content on a platform that is up to date within 

12 less than 24 hours. 

13 (6) REASONABLY PUBLIC.—The term ‘‘reason14 ably public’’ means information that the author 

15 made available in a manner and under such cir16 cumstances such that the author does not retain a 

17 reasonable expectation of privacy in the information. 

18 The fact that a user may need to register or create 

19 an account with a platform to view information does 

20 not preclude it from being deemed reasonably public. 

21 (7) RECOMMENDER OR RANKING ALGORITHM.— 

22 The term ‘‘recommender or ranking algorithm’’ 

23 means a fully or partially automated system used by 

24 a platform to suggest in its online interface specific 

25 information to recipients of the service offered by 


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1 the platform, or to prioritize that information, in2 cluding as a result of a search initiated by the re3 cipient of the service or otherwise determining the 

4 relative order or prominence of information dis5 played. This includes any computational process, in6 cluding one derived from machine learning or other 

7 artificial intelligence techniques, that processes per8 sonal information or other data for the purpose of 

9 determining the order or manner that a set of infor10 mation is provided, recommended to, or withheld 

11 from a user of a platform, including the provision of 

12 commercial content, the display of social media 

13 posts, recommendations of user or group accounts to 

14 follow or associate with, or any other method of con15 tent selection, amplification, or restriction. 

16 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to the NSF 

18 and the Commission such sums as are necessary to carry 

19 out this Act for fiscal year 2022 and each succeeding fiscal 

20 year. 

21 SEC. 12. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

23 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be un24 constitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jan 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5339.IS S5339

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1 tion of the remaining provisions of this Act, to any person 

2 or circumstance, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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