II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2448 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that, under certain 

circumstances, an interactive computer service provider that allows for 

the proliferation of health misinformation through that service shall be 

treated as the publisher or speaker of that misinformation, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2021 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that, 

under certain circumstances, an interactive computer 

service provider that allows for the proliferation of health 

misinformation through that service shall be treated as 

the publisher or speaker of that misinformation, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Health Misinformation 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Access to accurate and reliable information 

4 is crucial for public health and safety during a na5 tional emergency or crisis, such as the COVID–19 

6 pandemic. 

7 (2) On January 27, 2020, the Secretary of 

8 Health and Human Services determined that a pub9 lic health emergency existed under section 319 of 

10 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), as 

11 a result of confirmed cases of COVID–19 in the 

12 United States. 

13 (3) As of the date of enactment of this Act, in 

14 the United States, there have been more than 

15 34,000,000 cases of COVID–19 and more than 

16 600,000 deaths resulting from COVID–19. 

17 (4) Since the declaration of the public health 

18 emergency described in paragraph (2), misinforma19 tion and disinformation relating to COVID–19 have 

20 spread at an alarming rate, which has— 

21 (A) hindered the public response efforts of 

22 Federal, State, local, and indigenous leaders; 

23 and 

24 (B) endangered lives. 

25 (5) The COVID–19 pandemic is the first pan26 demic in human history during which— 


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1 (A) the internet is being used to keep indi2 viduals informed and connected; and 

3 (B) misinformation and disinformation 

4 about the disease, and about treatments and 

5 preventative measures with respect to the dis6 ease, including vaccines, have proliferated on 

7 the internet and through the use of social 

8 media. 

9 (6) Features that are built into technology plat10 forms have contributed to the spread of misinforma11 tion and disinformation, with social media platforms 

12 incentivizing individuals to share content to get 

13 likes, comments, and other positive signals of en14 gagement, which rewards engagement rather than 

15 accuracy. 

16 (7) Social media companies use algorithms that 

17 determine what material users see online, and those 

18 algorithms often prioritize content based on the pop19 ularity of the content, or similarity to previously 

20 seen content, which means that a user exposed to in21 formation once could see more of that kind of infor22 mation over time, furthering the effects of misin23 formation and disinformation. 

24 (8) One study has found that as much as 65 

25 percent of misinformation and disinformation on the 


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1 internet and social media relating to the COVID–19 

2 vaccines can be traced back to 12 individuals and 

3 another study has found that even brief exposure to 

4 misinformation relating to the COVID–19 vaccines 

5 makes individuals less likely to want to receive one 

6 of those vaccines. 

7 (9) The COVID–19 pandemic remains an ongo8 ing threat and there is a need to ensure that social 

9 media platforms do their part in promoting accurate 

10 scientific information to users of those platforms. 

11 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230 of the Communica13 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (c)(1)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and insert16 ing the following: 

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

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

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

20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A provider of an inter21 active computer service shall be treated as the 

22 publisher or speaker of health misinformation 

23 that is created or developed through the inter24 active computer service during a covered period 

25 if the provider promotes that health misinVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jul 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2448.IS S2448

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1 formation through an algorithm used by the 

2 provider (or similar software functionality), ex3 cept that this subparagraph shall not apply if 

4 that promotion occurs through a neutral mecha5 nism, such as through the use of chronological 

6 functionality.’’; and 

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

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(5) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe10 riod’ means a period during which a public health 

11 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 

12 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 

13 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), including a re14 newal of any such declaration, is in effect.’’. 

15 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services, in consultation with the heads of other 

18 relevant Federal agencies and outside experts determined 

19 appropriate by the Secretary, shall issue guidance regard20 ing what constitutes health misinformation for the pur21 poses of subparagraph (B) of section 230(c)(1) of the 

22 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)(1)), as 

23 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

Æ 


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