II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4062 

To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to require that 

providers and users of an interactive computer service meet certain 

standards to qualify for liability protections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2020 

Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 

to require that providers and users of an interactive 

computer service meet certain standards to qualify for 

liability protections. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Big Tech’s 

5 Censorship Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SCOPE OF LIABILITY. 

7 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 230) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No provider’’; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des7 ignated, by inserting after ‘‘interactive 

8 computer service’’ the following: ‘‘that 

9 takes reasonable steps to prevent or ad10 dress the unlawful use of the interactive 

11 computer service or unlawful publication of 

12 information on the interactive computer 

13 service’’; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

17 paragraph, the term ‘unlawful use of the inter18 active computer service or unlawful publication 

19 of information on the interactive computer serv20 ice’ includes cyberstalking, sex trafficking, traf21 ficking in illegal products or activities, child 

22 sexual exploitation, and any other activity relat23 ing to the use of, or publication of information 

24 on, an interactive computer service that is oth25 erwise proscribed by Federal law.’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

3 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec4 tively, and adjusting the margins accord5 ingly; 

6 (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

7 as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘No pro8 vider’’ and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), no provider’’; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(B) FIRST AMENDMENT REQUIRE14 MENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

16 (ii), a provider or user of an interactive 

17 computer service that takes action under 

18 clause (i) of subparagraph (A) to restrict 

19 access to or availability of constitutionally 

20 protected material shall not be eligible for 

21 the protection under that subparagraph 

22 unless— 

23 ‘‘(I) the action is taken in a view24 point-neutral manner; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the restriction limits only 

2 the time, place, or manner in which 

3 the material is available; and 

4 ‘‘(III) there is a compelling rea5 son for restricting that access or 

6 availability. 

7 ‘‘(ii) NO PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—A 

8 court that holds a provider or user of an 

9 information computer service liable on ac10 count of action taken to restrict access to 

11 or availability of material as described in 

12 subparagraph (A)(i) because the provider 

13 or user did not meet the requirements 

14 under clause (i) of this subparagraph may 

15 not award punitive damages against the 

16 provider or user for taking that action.’’; 

17 and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible 

20 for protection under this subsection— 

21 ‘‘(A) a provider of an interactive computer 

22 service shall, in any terms of service or user 

23 agreement produced by the provider, clearly ex24 plain the practices and procedures used by the 


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1 provider in restricting access to or availability 

2 of any material; and 

3 ‘‘(B) a provider or user of an interactive 

4 computer service that decides to restrict access 

5 to or availability of any material shall provide 

6 a clear explanation of that decision to the infor7 mation content provider that created or devel8 oped the material. 

9 ‘‘(4) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In any action or 

10 proceeding in which a party asserts paragraph (1) or 

11 (2) as a defense to liability, the party alleging liabil12 ity shall bear the burden of demonstrating that the 

13 other party is not entitled to immunity under that 

14 paragraph.’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL CIVIL LIABIL18 ITY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

19 impair or limit any civil enforcement action brought 

20 by a Federal agency, office, or other establishment 

21 arising from any violation of a Federal statute or 

22 regulation.’’; and 

23 (3) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED MATE2 RIAL.—The term ‘constitutionally protected mate3 rial’ means any material protected by a right under 

4 the Constitution of the United States, regardless of 

5 whether the right is otherwise enforceable against a 

6 nongovernmental entity.’’. 

Æ 


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