II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 560 

To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to reaffirm 

civil rights, victims’ rights, and consumer protections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Mr. WARNER (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KAINE, and 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL) 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 reaffirm civil rights, victims’ rights, and consumer 

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 ‘‘Safeguarding Against 

5 Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer 

6 Harms Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE TECH Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT IMPROVEMENTS. 

8 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

9 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.—Except as provided in 

6 paragraph (3), no provider’’; 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘any information’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘any speech’’; 

9 (iii) by inserting before the period at 

10 the end the following: ‘‘, unless the pro11 vider or user has accepted payment to 

12 make the speech available or, in whole or 

13 in part, created or funded the creation of 

14 the speech’’; and 

15 (iv) by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(B) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In any ac18 tion in which the defendant raises subpara19 graph (A) as a defense, the defendant shall 

20 have the burden of persuasion, by a preponder21 ance of the evidence, that the defendant is a 

22 provider or user of an interactive computer 

23 service and is being treated as the publisher or 

24 speaker of speech provided by another informa25 tion content provider.’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 

2 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

3 (A)’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION FROM ‘GOOD SAMARITAN’ IM6 MUNITY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Paragraph (1) 

8 shall not apply to any request for injunctive re9 lief arising from the failure of a provider of an 

10 interactive computer service to remove, restrict 

11 access to or availability of, or prevent the dis12 semination of material that is likely to cause ir13 reparable harm. 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—In the 

15 case of a provider of an interactive computer 

16 service that complies with an order granting in17 junctive relief described in subparagraph (A), 

18 that compliance shall not subject the provider 

19 to liability for removing, restricting access to or 

20 availability of, or preventing the dissemination 

21 of material that is subject to the order.’’; and 

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

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS.— 

25 Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, 


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1 impair, or prevent any action alleging discrimination 

2 on the basis of any protected class, or conduct that 

3 has the effect or consequence of discriminating on 

4 the basis of any protected class, under any Federal 

5 or State law. 

6 ‘‘(7) NO EFFECT ON ANTITRUST LAWS.—Noth7 ing in this section shall be construed to prevent, im8 pair, or limit any action brought under Federal or 

9 State antitrust law. 

10 ‘‘(8) NO EFFECT ON STALKING, HARASSMENT, 

11 OR INTIMIDATION LAWS.—Nothing in this section 

12 shall be construed to prevent, impair, or limit any 

13 action alleging stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, 

14 cyberharassment, or intimidation based, in whole or 

15 in part, on sex (including sexual orientation and 

16 gender identity), race, color, religion, ancestry, na17 tional origin, or physical or mental disability brought 

18 under Federal or State law. 

19 ‘‘(9) NO EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN

20 RIGHTS LAW.—Nothing in this section shall be con21 strued to prevent, impair, or limit any action 

22 brought under section 1350 of title 28, United 

23 States Code. 

24 ‘‘(10) NO EFFECT ON WRONGFUL DEATH AC25 TIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 


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1 to prevent, impair, or limit any civil action for a 

2 wrongful death.’’. 

Æ 


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