II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4977 

To hold accountable operators of social media platforms that intentionally 

or knowingly host false election administration information. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. 

BENNET, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To hold accountable operators of social media platforms that 

intentionally or knowingly host false election administration information. 

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 ‘‘Digital Integrity in 

5 Democracy Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO SECTION 230 IMMUNITY FOR SOCIAL 

2 MEDIA PLATFORM OPERATORS HOSTING 

3 FALSE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION INFOR4 MATION. 

5 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

6 U.S.C. 230) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c)(1)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and insert9 ing the following: 

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

11 subparagraph (B), no provider’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

14 shall not apply with respect to false election ad15 ministration information that the operator of a 

16 social media platform intentionally or knowingly 

17 hosts on the social media platform.’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(5) COVERED ELECTION.—The term ‘covered 

21 election’ has the meaning given the term ‘election’ 

22 under section 301(1) of the Federal Election Cam23 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(1)). 

24 ‘‘(6) FALSE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION INFOR25 MATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘false elec2 tion administration information’, with respect 

3 to a social media platform, means objectively in4 correct information that— 

5 ‘‘(i) relates to— 

6 ‘‘(I) the time, place, or manner 

7 of holding any covered election; or 

8 ‘‘(II) the qualifications for or re9 strictions on voter eligibility for any 

10 covered election, including— 

11 ‘‘(aa) any criminal, civil, or 

12 other legal penalties associated 

13 with voting in any covered elec14 tion; or 

15 ‘‘(bb) information regarding 

16 the registration status or eligi17 bility of a voter; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) is publicly accessible on the so19 cial media platform. 

20 ‘‘(B) POLITICAL SPEECH EXCLUDED.—The 

21 term ‘false election administration information’ 

22 does not include any content that relates to po23 litical speech in favor of or against— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a candidate (as defined in section 

2 301(2) of the Federal Election Campaign 

3 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(2)); 

4 ‘‘(ii) an individual who holds a Fed5 eral office (as defined in section 301(3) of 

6 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

7 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(3)); or 

8 ‘‘(iii) a political party. 

9 ‘‘(7) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.—The term ‘so10 cial media platform’ means a social media platform, 

11 as defined in section 124(a)(2) of the Trafficking 

12 Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization 

13 Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. 1862w(a)(2)), that had not 

14 fewer than 25,000,000 unique monthly users in the 

15 United States for a majority of the months during 

16 the most recent 12-month period, except that such 

17 section 124(a)(2) shall be applied by substituting ‘an 

18 interactive computer service’ for ‘a website or inter19 net medium’.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. FALSE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION 

21 REMOVAL PROCESS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) ELECTION DAY.—The term ‘‘election day’’ 

24 means, with respect to any covered election (as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:30 Sep 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4977.IS S4977

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1 fined in section 230 of the Communications Act of 

2 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230))— 

3 (A) the date on which the covered election 

4 is held; and 

5 (B) any day during the period— 

6 (i) beginning on the earlier of— 

7 (I) the first day during which 

8 early voting for such election is al9 lowed; or 

10 (II) the first day on which the 

11 State distributes absentee ballots for 

12 such election; and 

13 (ii) ending on the date of such elec14 tion. 

15 (2) FALSE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION INFOR16 MATION.—The term ‘‘false election administration 

17 information’’ has the meaning given the term in sec18 tion 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

19 U.S.C. 230), as amended by section 2. 

20 (3) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘so21 cial media platform’’ has the meaning given the 

22 term in section 230 of the Communications Act of 

23 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), as amended by section 2. 


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1 (4) WRITTEN.—The term ‘‘written’’, with re2 spect to a communication, includes a written elec3 tronic communication. 

4 (b) REMOVAL PROCESS.— 

5 (1) REMOVAL REQUIRED.—If an operator of a 

6 social media platform receives a complete notifica7 tion, in accordance with paragraph (2), that false 

8 election administration information is being hosted 

9 on the social media platform, the operator shall— 

10 (A) determine whether the alleged false 

11 election administration information is objec12 tively incorrect; 

13 (B) if the determination under subpara14 graph (A) is that the alleged false election ad15 ministration information is objectively incorrect, 

16 remove the false election administration infor17 mation— 

18 (i) not later than 48 hours after re19 ceiving the complete notification, if re20 ceived on a day other than an election day; 

21 or 

22 (ii) not later than 24 hours after re23 ceiving the complete notification, if re24 ceived on an election day; and 


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1 (C) not later than 12 hours after removing 

2 false election administration information, pro3 vide a written response to the complainant stat4 ing that the operator removed the false election 

5 administration information. 

6 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—A notifi7 cation described in paragraph (1) shall— 

8 (A) be a written notification submitted to 

9 the operator of the social media platform; 

10 (B) contain a description of the false elec11 tion administration information being hosted on 

12 the social media platform that is reasonably 

13 sufficient for the operator to locate the false 

14 election administration information; and 

15 (C) contain the name and contact informa16 tion of the complainant, including mailing ad17 dress, telephone number, and email address. 

18 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

19 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL ACTION.—The 

20 Attorney General may bring a civil action in an ap21 propriate district court of the United States against 

22 an operator of a social media platform that violates 

23 subsection (b)(1)(A) for— 

24 (A) damages of $50,000 for each item of 

25 false election administration information that 


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1 was not removed by the operator in accordance 

2 with that paragraph; and 

3 (B) injunctive relief relating to the removal 

4 of false election administration information that 

5 is the subject of the civil action. 

6 (2) STATE CIVIL ACTION.—The attorney gen7 eral or secretary of state of a State may bring a civil 

8 action in an appropriate district court of the United 

9 States against an operator of a social media plat10 form that violates subsection (b)(1)(A) with respect 

11 to a covered election being held in that State for— 

12 (A) damages of $50,000 for each item of 

13 false election administration information that 

14 was not removed by the operator in accordance 

15 with that paragraph; and 

16 (B) injunctive relief relating to the removal 

17 of false election administration information that 

18 is the subject of the civil action. 

19 (3) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A candidate, 

20 as defined in section 301 of the Federal Election 

21 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101) aggrieved 

22 by a violation of subsection (b)(1)(A) may, after no23 tifying the chief election official of the State in24 volved, bring a civil action in an appropriate district 

25 court of the United States against the operator of a 


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1 social media platform that committed the violation 

2 for— 

3 (A) damages of $50,000 for each item of 

4 false election administration information that 

5 was not removed by the operator in accordance 

6 with that paragraph; and 

7 (B) injunctive relief relating to the removal 

8 of false election administration information that 

9 is the subject of the civil action. 

10 (d) SAFE HARBOR RELATING TO SECTION 230 IM11 MUNITY EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

12 230(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

13 230(c)(1)), as added by section 2, shall not apply with 

14 respect to false election administration information hosted 

15 on a social media platform if the operator of the social 

16 media platform— 

17 (1) becomes aware of the information due to a 

18 notification described in subsection (b)(1) of this 

19 section and removes the information in accordance 

20 with subparagraph (A) of that subsection; or 

21 (2) becomes aware of the information through 

22 means other than a notification described in sub23 section (b)(1) of this section and removes the infor24 mation— 


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1 (A) not later than 48 hours after becoming 

2 aware of the information, if it becomes so aware 

3 on a day other than an election day; or 

4 (B) not later than 24 hours after becoming 

5 aware of the information, if it becomes so aware 

6 on an election day. 

7 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

9 shall apply with respect to any false election administra10 tion information alleged to be hosted on a social media 

11 platform on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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