II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 299 

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 8, 2021 

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

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 an interactive 

10 computer service provider to remove, restrict 

11 access to or availability of, or prevent dissemi12 nation of material that is likely to cause irrep13 arable harm. 

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

15 case of an interactive computer service provider 

16 that complies with an order granting injunctive 

17 relief described in subparagraph (A), such com18 pliance shall not subject the interactive com19 puter service provider to liability for removing, 

20 restricting access to or availability of, or pre21 venting dissemination of material subject to the 

22 order.’’; and 

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

24 following: 


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

2 Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, 

3 impair, or prevent any action alleging discrimination 

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

5 has the effect or consequence of discriminating on 

6 the basis of any protected class, under any Federal 

7 or State law. 

8 ‘‘(7) NO EFFECT ON ANTITRUST LAWS.—Noth9 ing in this section shall be construed to prevent, im10 pair, or limit any action brought under Federal or 

11 State antitrust law. 

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

13 OR INTIMIDATION LAWS.—Nothing in this section 

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

15 action alleging stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, 

16 cyberharassment, or intimidation based, in whole or 

17 in part, on sex (including sexual orientation and 

18 gender identity), race, color, religion, ancestry, na19 tional origin, or physical or mental disability brought 

20 under Federal or State law. 

21 ‘‘(9) NO EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN

22 RIGHTS LAW.—Nothing in this section shall be con23 strued to prevent, impair, or limit any action 

24 brought under section 1350 of title 28, United 

25 States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(10) NO EFFECT ON WRONGFUL DEATH AC2 TIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

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

4 wrongful death.’’. 

Æ 


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