II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2972 

To repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 7, 2021 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. HAWLEY, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced 

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

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934. 

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

3 SECTION 1. REPEAL OF SECTION 230. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230 of the Communica5 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) is repealed. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (1) COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.—The Com8 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is 

9 amended— 


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1 (A) in section 223(h) (47 U.S.C. 223(h)), 

2 by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘interactive computer service’ 

5 means any information service, system, or access 

6 software provider that provides or enables computer 

7 access by multiple users to a computer server, in8 cluding specifically a service or system that provides 

9 access to the Internet and such systems operated or 

10 services offered by libraries or educational institu11 tions.’’; and 

12 (B) in section 231(b)(4) (47 U.S.C. 

13 231(b)(4)), by striking ‘‘or section 230’’. 

14 (2) TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946.—Section 45 of 

15 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the registra16 tion and protection of trademarks used in commerce, 

17 to carry out the provisions of certain international 

18 conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 

19 5, 1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘Trademark Act 

20 of 1946’’) (15 U.S.C. 1127), is amended by striking 

21 the definition relating to the term ‘‘Internet’’ and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘The term ‘Internet’ means the international com24 puter network of both Federal and non-Federal interoper25 able packet switched data networks.’’. 


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1 (3) TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 

2 1401 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by 

3 striking subsection (g). 

4 (4) TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—Part I of 

5 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (A) in section 2257(h)(2)(B)(v), by strik7 ing ‘‘, except that deletion of a particular com8 munication or material made by another person 

9 in a manner consistent with section 230(c) of 

10 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

11 230(c)) shall not constitute such selection or al12 teration of the content of the communication’’; 

13 and 

14 (B) in section 2421A— 

15 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(as 

16 such term is defined in defined in section 

17 230(f) the Communications Act of 1934 

18 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)))’’ and inserting ‘‘(as 

19 that term is defined in section 223 of the 

20 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

21 223))’’; and 

22 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(as 

23 such term is defined in defined in section 

24 230(f) the Communications Act of 1934 

25 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)))’’ and inserting ‘‘(as 


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1 that term is defined in section 223 of the 

2 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

3 223))’’. 

4 (5) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—Section 

5 401(h)(3)(A)(iii)(II) of the Controlled Substances 

6 Act (21 U.S.C. 841(h)(3)(A)(iii)(II)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘, except that deletion of a particular com8 munication or material made by another person in 

9 a manner consistent with section 230(c) of the Com10 munications Act of 1934 shall not constitute such 

11 selection or alteration of the content of the commu12 nication’’. 

13 (6) WEBB-KENYON ACT.—Section 3(b)(1) of 

14 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act divesting intoxicating liq15 uors of their interstate character in certain cases’’, 

16 approved March 1, 1913 (commonly known as the 

17 ‘‘Webb-Kenyon Act’’) (27 U.S.C. 122b(b)(1)), is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘(as defined in section 230(f) 

19 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

20 230(f))’’ and inserting ‘‘(as defined in section 223 of 

21 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 223))’’. 

22 (7) TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 

23 4102 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (A) by striking subsection (c); and 

25 (B) in subsection (e)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘construed to’’ and all 

2 that follows through ‘‘affect’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘construed to affect’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘defamation; or’’ and 

5 all that follows and inserting ‘‘defama6 tion.’’. 

7 (8) TITLE 31, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 

8 5362(6) of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘section 230(f) of the Communications 

10 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f))’’ and inserting ‘‘sec11 tion 223 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

12 U.S.C. 223)’’. 

13 (9) NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IN14 FORMATION ADMINISTRATION ORGANIZATION ACT.— 

15 Section 157 of the National Telecommunications 

16 and Information Administration Organization Act 

17 (47 U.S.C. 941) is amended— 

18 (A) by striking subsection (e); and 

19 (B) by redesignating subsections (f) 

20 through (j) as subsections (e) through (i), re21 spectively. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2024. 

Æ 


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