II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2125 

To protect the right of the American public under the First Amendment 

to the Constitution of the United States to receive news and information 

from disparate sources by regulating the use of automated software 

programs intended to impersonate or replicate human activity on social 

media. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To protect the right of the American public under the First 

Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 

to receive news and information from disparate sources 

by regulating the use of automated software programs 

intended to impersonate or replicate human activity on 

social media. 

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 ‘‘Bot Disclosure and 

5 Accountability Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the Pew Research Center, in 

4 2005, only 5 percent of adults in the United States 

5 used online social media, but by 2018, 69 percent of 

6 adults in the United States reported using some type 

7 of social media, including 88 percent of adults under 

8 the age of 29, and 67 percent of adults in the 

9 United States reportedly obtained some of their 

10 news from social media, including 78 percent of 

11 adults under the age of 50. 

12 (2) In 2016, a study titled ‘‘Social bots distort 

13 the 2016 U.S. Presidential election online discus14 sion’’ found that, during the 2016 United States 

15 presidential election, approximately 400,000, or 15 

16 percent, of the users of the social media website 

17 Twitter who discussed the election were social media 

18 bots. Those bots produced 3,800,000 tweets, which 

19 accounted for 19 percent of all tweets regarding the 

20 election. 

21 (3) In 2017, a report published by researchers 

22 from the University of Oxford and the University of 

23 Pennsylvania titled ‘‘Computational Propaganda in 

24 the United States: Manufacturing Consensus On25 line’’ noted that, ‘‘According to many of the people 

26 interviewed for the report, including political bot 


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1 makers and campaign personnel, the goals of bot2 driven tactics are manifold: to create a bandwagon 

3 effect, to build fake social media trends by automati4 cally spreading hashtags, and even to suppress the 

5 opinions of the opposition.’’. 

6 (4) In testimony before the Committee on the 

7 Judiciary of the Senate, representatives from Twit8 ter reported that, of the 2,752 Twitter accounts as9 sociated with the Russian intelligence unit known as 

10 the ‘‘Internet Research Agency’’, more than 47 per11 cent were social media bots. 

12 (5) In 2017, the Oxford Internet Institute 

13 found that Russian government social media bots 

14 were used to manipulate highly targeted and con15 sequential segments of the electorate of the United 

16 States. Researchers found that, of all tweets related 

17 to the 2016 United States presidential election, Rus18 sian propaganda constituted— 

19 (A) 40 percent of such tweets directed to 

20 Pennsylvania residents; 

21 (B) 34 percent of such tweets directed to 

22 Michigan residents; 

23 (C) 30 percent of such tweets directed to 

24 Wisconsin residents; 


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1 (D) 41 percent of such tweets directed to 

2 Florida residents; 

3 (E) 40 percent of such tweets directed to 

4 North Carolina residents; and 

5 (F) 35 percent of such tweets directed to 

6 Ohio residents. 

7 (6) In Associated Press v. United States, 326 

8 U.S. 1 (1945), the Supreme Court found, ‘‘It would 

9 be strange indeed, however, if the grave concern for 

10 freedom of the press which prompted adoption of the 

11 First Amendment should be read as a command that 

12 the government was without power to protect that 

13 freedom.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

15 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

16 Government has a compelling interest in— 

17 (1) mitigating the deceptiveness of social media 

18 bots, which impersonate human activity online, 

19 through public disclosure requirements that impose 

20 a minimal burden on rights protected under the 

21 First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

22 States; 

23 (2) regulating the use of social media bots in 

24 political advertising, which is intended to deceive 


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1 voters and suppress human speech, in a manner that 

2 does not— 

3 (A) distinguish between political messages 

4 based on— 

5 (i) content; or 

6 (ii) the nature of the person pro7 ducing a message; or 

8 (B) impose any aggregate limit on political 

9 speech; and 

10 (3) mitigating the effectiveness of efforts by 

11 foreign entities to influence United States elections 

12 through the use of social media bots to spread mis13 information and propaganda. 

14 SEC. 4. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF SOFTWARE PROGRAMS IN15 TENDED TO IMPERSONATE OR REPLICATE 

16 HUMAN ACTIVITY. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section— 

19 (A) the term ‘‘automated software pro20 gram or process intended to impersonate or 

21 replicate human activity online’’ has the mean22 ing given the term by the Commission by regu23 lation under paragraph (2); 

24 (B) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the 

25 Federal Trade Commission; 


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1 (C) the term ‘‘social media provider’’ 

2 means any person that owns or operates a so3 cial media website; and 

4 (D) the term ‘‘social media website’’ means 

5 any tool, website, application, or other media 

6 that connects users on the internet for the pur7 pose of engaging in dialogue, sharing informa8 tion, collaborating, and interacting. 

9 (2) DEFINITION BY REGULATION.—Not later 

10 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

11 the Commission shall promulgate regulations under 

12 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to define 

13 the term ‘‘automated software program or process 

14 intended to impersonate or replicate human activity 

15 online’’ broadly enough so that the definition is not 

16 limited to current technology. 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall pro19 mulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5, United 

20 States Code, to require a social media provider to establish 

21 and implement policies and procedures to require a user 

22 of a social media website owned or operated by the social 

23 media provider to publically disclose the use of any auto24 mated software program or process intended to imperVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2125.IS S2125

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1 sonate or replicate human activity online on the social 

2 media website. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating regulations 

4 under subsection (b), the Commission shall require a so5 cial media provider to establish and implement, for each 

6 social media website owned or operated by the social media 

7 provider— 

8 (1) a policy that requires any user of the social 

9 media website that employs an automated software 

10 program or process intended to impersonate or rep11 licate human activity online on the social media 

12 website to provide clear and conspicuous notice of 

13 the automated program in clear and plain language 

14 to any other person or user of the social media 

15 website who may be exposed to activities conducted 

16 by the automated program; 

17 (2) a process that allows a user of the social 

18 media website to provide clear and conspicuous no19 tice to any other person or user as required under 

20 paragraph (1); 

21 (3) a process to identify, assess, and verify 

22 whether the activity of any user of the social media 

23 website is conducted by an automated software pro24 gram or process intended to impersonate or replicate 

25 human activity online; 


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1 (4) a process by which the social media provider 

2 will take reasonable preventative and corrective ac3 tion to mitigate efforts by a user to use an auto4 mated software program or process intended to im5 personate or replicate human activity online without 

6 disclosure as required under paragraph (1), which 

7 may include suspension or any other action author8 ized by the Commission; 

9 (5) a process by which the social media provider 

10 will remove posts, images, or any other online activ11 ity of a user or profile making use of an automated 

12 software program or process intended to imper13 sonate or replicate human activity online that is not 

14 in compliance with the policy under paragraph (1); 

15 and 

16 (6) a process that allows a human user of the 

17 social media website the opportunity to demonstrate 

18 that the online activity of the user is in compliance 

19 with the policy required under paragraph (1) prior 

20 to, or immediately following, any mitigation activity 

21 described in paragraph (4) or (5). 

22 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec23 tion shall be construed to require any social media pro24 vider to permit an automated software program or process 

25 intended to impersonate or replicate human activity online 


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1 on a social media website owned or operated by the social 

2 media provider. 

3 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

4 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC5 TICES.—A violation of a regulation promulgated 

6 under subsection (b) shall be treated as a violation 

7 of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or prac8 tice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Fed9 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

11 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

13 subparagraph (C), the Commission shall enforce 

14 this section in the same manner, by the same 

15 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, 

16 and duties as though all applicable terms and 

17 provisions of the Federal Trade Commission 

18 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated 

19 into and made a part of this section. 

20 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Ex21 cept as provided in subparagraph (C), any per22 son who violates subsection (b) shall be subject 

23 to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 

24 and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 

25 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 


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1 (C) COMMON CARRIERS AND NONPROFIT

2 ORGANIZATIONS.—Notwithstanding section 4, 

3 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any juris5 dictional limitation of the Commission, the 

6 Commission shall also enforce this section, in 

7 the same manner provided in subparagraphs 

8 (A) and (B) of this paragraph, with respect 

9 to— 

10 (i) common carriers subject to the 

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

12 151 et seq.) and Acts amendatory thereof 

13 and supplementary thereto; and 

14 (ii) organizations not organized to 

15 carry on business for their own profit or 

16 that of their members. 

17 (D) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 

18 this section shall be construed to limit the au19 thority of the Commission under any other pro20 vision of law. 


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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON AUTOMATED SOFTWARE PRO2 GRAMS INTENDED TO IMPERSONATE OR REP3 LICATE HUMAN ACTIVITY FOR ONLINE PO4 LITICAL ADVERTISING. 

5 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

6 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 325. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF CERTAIN AUTO9 MATED SOFTWARE PROGRAMS FOR POLIT10 ICAL ADVERTISING. 

11 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) CANDIDATES AND POLITICAL PARTIES.— 

13 No candidate (including any authorized committee of 

14 a candidate) or political party may— 

15 ‘‘(A) use or cause to be used any auto16 mated software programs or processes intended 

17 to impersonate or replicate human activity on18 line to make, amplify, share, or otherwise dis19 seminate any public communication; or 

20 ‘‘(B) solicit, accept, purchase or sell any 

21 automated software programs or processes in22 tended to impersonate or replicate human activ23 ity online for any purpose. 

24 ‘‘(2) POLITICAL COMMITTEES, CORPORATIONS, 

25 AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—No political comVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2125.IS S2125

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1 mittee, corporation, or labor organization (as defined 

2 in section 316(b)) may— 

3 ‘‘(A) use or cause to be used any auto4 mated software programs or processes intended 

5 to impersonate or replicate human activity on6 line to make, amplify, share, or otherwise dis7 seminate— 

8 ‘‘(i) any message that expressly advo9 cates for the election or defeat of a can10 didate; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) or any communication which 

12 would be an electioneering communication 

13 as defined in section 304(f)(3) if such sec14 tion were applied— 

15 ‘‘(I) by taking into account com16 munications made over the Internet; 

17 ‘‘(II) without regard to subpara18 graph (A)(i)(III) thereof with respect 

19 to communications described in sub20 clause (I); and 

21 ‘‘(III) by treating the facilities of 

22 any online or digital newspaper, mag23 azine, blog, publication, or periodical 

24 in the same manner the facilities of a 


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1 broadcasting station for purposes of 

2 subparagraph (B)(i); or 

3 ‘‘(B) solicit, accept, purchase or sell any 

4 automated software programs or processes in5 tended to impersonate or replicate human activ6 ity online for any purpose described in subpara7 graph (A). 

8 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition in subsection (a) 

9 shall not apply to any internal or administrative systems 

10 that are not oriented or accessible to the public. 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

12 term ‘automated software program or process intended to 

13 impersonate or replicate human activity online’ has the 

14 meaning given such term under section 4 of the Bot Dis15 closure and Accountability Act of 2019.’’. 

Æ 


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