I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4887 

To clarify that a violation of certain terms of service and related materials 

is an unfair or deceptive act or practice and subject to enforcement 

by the Federal Trade Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2023 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself and Ms. CASTOR of Florida) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To clarify that a violation of certain terms of service and 

related materials is an unfair or deceptive act or practice 

and subject to enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission. 

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 ‘‘Online Consumer Pro5 tection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TERMS OF SERVICE REQUIRED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA 

2 PLATFORMS AND ONLINE MARKETPLACES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each social media platform or on4 line marketplace shall establish, maintain, and make pub5 licly available at all times and in a machine-readable for6 mat, terms of service in a manner that is clear, easily un7 derstood, and written in plain and concise language. The 

8 terms of service shall meet the following requirements: 

9 (1) The terms of service shall include— 

10 (A) any terms or conditions of use of any 

11 service provided by such person to a consumer; 

12 (B) any policies of such person with regard 

13 to such service or use of such service by a con14 sumer; and 

15 (C) the consumer protection policy con16 sistent with subsection (b). 

17 (2) The terms of service shall cover issues re18 lated to the behavior of a service or a user of such 

19 service, and shall at a minimum include terms of use 

20 related to— 

21 (A) payment methods; 

22 (B) content ownership, including content 

23 generated by a user; 

24 (C) policies related to sharing user content 

25 with third parties; 


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1 (D) any disclaimers, limitations, notices of 

2 nonliability, or the consequences of not agreeing 

3 to or complying with the terms of service; and 

4 (E) any other topic the Commission deems 

5 appropriate. 

6 (b) REQUIRED CONSUMER PROTECTION POLICY.— 

7 (1) FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.—For so8 cial media platforms, the consumer protection policy 

9 required by subsection (a) shall include— 

10 (A) a description of the content and behav11 ior permitted or prohibited on its service both 

12 by the platform and by users; 

13 (B) whether content may be blocked, re14 moved, or modified, or if service to users may 

15 be terminated and the grounds upon which such 

16 actions will be taken; 

17 (C) whether a person can request that con18 tent be blocked, removed, or modified, or that 

19 a user’s service be terminated, and how to make 

20 such a request; 

21 (D) a description of how a user will be no22 tified of and can respond to a request that his 

23 or her content be blocked, removed, or modified, 

24 or service be terminated, if such actions are 

25 taken; 


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1 (E) whether a user who requested content 

2 be blocked, removed, or modified will be notified 

3 of whether action was taken as a result of the 

4 request, the action that was taken, the reason 

5 why action was taken or not taken, and how the 

6 user will be notified; 

7 (F) how a person can appeal a decision to 

8 block, remove, or modify content, allow content 

9 to remain, or terminate or not terminate service 

10 to a user, if such actions are taken; 

11 (G) a description of how a user will be no12 tified of the result of the appeal; 

13 (H) a description of the tools and support 

14 available to users who have experienced cyber 

15 harassment; and 

16 (I) any other topic the Commission deems 

17 appropriate. 

18 (2) FOR ONLINE MARKETPLACES.—For online 

19 marketplaces, the consumer protection policy re20 quired by subsection (a) shall include— 

21 (A) a description of the products, product 

22 descriptions, and marketing material, allowed or 

23 disallowed on the marketplace; 

24 (B) whether a product, product descrip25 tions, and marketing material may be blocked, 


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1 removed, or modified, or if service to a user 

2 may be terminated and the grounds upon which 

3 such actions will be taken; 

4 (C) whether users will be notified of prod5 ucts that have been recalled or are dangerous, 

6 and how they will be notified; 

7 (D) for users— 

8 (i) whether a user can report sus9 pected fraud, deception, dangerous prod10 ucts, or violations of the online market11 place’s terms of service, and how to make 

12 such report; 

13 (ii) whether a user who submitted a 

14 report will be notified of whether action 

15 was taken as a result of the report, the ac16 tion that was taken and the reason why ac17 tion was taken or not taken, and how the 

18 user will be notified; 

19 (iii) how to appeal the result of a re20 port; 

21 (iv) whether a user who appealed the 

22 result of a report will be notified of wheth23 er action was taken as a result of the ap24 peal, the action that was taken, the reason 


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1 why action was taken or not taken, and 

2 how the user will be notified; and 

3 (v) under what circumstances a user 

4 is entitled to refund, repair, or other rem5 edy and the remedy to which the user may 

6 be entitled, how the user will be notified of 

7 such entitlement, and how the user may 

8 claim such remedy; and 

9 (E) for sellers— 

10 (i) how sellers are notified of a report 

11 by a user or a violation of the terms of 

12 service or consumer protection policy; 

13 (ii) how to contest a report by a user; 

14 (iii) how a seller who is the subject of 

15 a report will be notified of what action will 

16 be or must be taken as a result of the re17 port and the justification for such action; 

18 (iv) how to appeal a decision of the 

19 online marketplace to take an action in re20 sponse to a user report or for a violation 

21 of the terms of service or consumer protec22 tion policy; and 

23 (v) the policy regarding refunds, re24 pairs, replacements, or other remedies as a 

25 result of a user report or a violation of the 


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1 terms of service or consumer protection 

2 policy. 

3 (c) STANDARD SHORT-FORM STATEMENTS AND

4 GRAPHIC ICONS FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION PRAC5 TICES.— 

6 (1) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Commission shall conduct a study to determine the 

9 most effective method of communicating common 

10 consumer protection practices in short-form con11 sumer disclosure statements or graphic icons that 

12 disclose the consumer protection and content mod13 eration practices of social media platforms and on14 line marketplaces. The Commission shall submit a 

15 report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

17 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

18 Senate with the results of the study. The report 

19 shall also be made publicly available on the website 

20 of the Commission. 

21 (2) REGULATIONS.—Except as provided in 

22 paragraph (3), after completion of the study and not 

23 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

24 this Act, the Commission shall finalize regulations 

25 based on the results of such study that require social 


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1 media platforms and online marketplaces to commu2 nicate their consumer protection and content mod3 eration practices, and any other information as the 

4 Commission may determine, in a clear and con5 spicuous manner. 

6 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the Commission deter7 mines, by a majority vote of the Commissioners, that 

8 short-form consumer disclosure statements or graph9 ic icons will not advance consumer understanding of 

10 consumer protection and content moderation prac11 tices of social media platforms and online market12 places, the Commission shall include its reasoning 

13 for making that determination in the report to Con14 gress required by paragraph (1) and shall not final15 ize the rulemaking until it determines such rules 

16 would advance consumer understanding of consumer 

17 protection and content moderation practices of social 

18 media platforms and online marketplaces. 

19 SEC. 3. CONSUMER PROTECTION PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each social media platform and 

21 online marketplace shall establish and implement a con22 sumer protection program that includes policies, practices, 

23 and procedures regarding consumer protection and con24 tent moderation— 

25 (1) to— 


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1 (A) ensure compliance with applicable Fed2 eral, State, and local consumer protection laws; 

3 (B) develop, implement, and ensure com4 pliance with the terms of service required by 

5 section 2; 

6 (C) develop and implement policies regard7 ing the content and behavior permitted on its 

8 service both by the platform and users, and en9 sure compliance with such policies, practices 

10 and procedures; 

11 (D) mitigate risks that could be harmful to 

12 consumers’ safety, well-being, and reasonable 

13 expectations of users of the social media plat14 form or online marketplace, including cyber 

15 harassment; 

16 (E) implement reasonable safeguards with17 in, and training and education of employees and 

18 contractors of, the social media platform or on19 line marketplace to promote compliance with all 

20 consumer protection laws and the consumer 

21 protection program; and 

22 (F) disclose any other requirement the 

23 Commission deems appropriate; and 

24 (2) taking into consideration— 


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1 (A) the size of, and the nature, scope, and 

2 complexity of the activities engaged in by the 

3 social media platform and online marketplace; 

4 (B) the activities engaged in by users on 

5 the social media platform or online market6 place; and 

7 (C) the cost of implementing the program. 

8 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—As part of the 

9 consumer protection program, a social media platform or 

10 online marketplace shall— 

11 (1) establish processes to monitor, manage, and 

12 enforce the social media platform’s or online market13 place’s consumer protection program, and dem14 onstrate the covered entity’s compliance with Fed15 eral, State, and local consumer protection laws; 

16 (2) establish processes to assess and mitigate 

17 the risks to individuals resulting from the social 

18 media platform’s or online marketplace’s amplifi19 cation of content or products not in compliance with 

20 its terms of service; 

21 (3) establish a process to periodically review 

22 and update the consumer protection program; 

23 (4) appoint a consumer protection officer, who 

24 reports directly to the chief executive officer; and 


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1 (5) establish and implement controls to monitor 

2 and mitigate known or reasonably foreseeable risks 

3 to consumers resulting from hosting content or prod4 ucts. 

5 (c) ANNUAL FILINGS TO THE FTC.— 

6 (1) FILING REQUIREMENTS.—Each social 

7 media platform or online marketplace that either has 

8 annual revenue in excess of $250,000 in the prior 

9 year or that has more than 10,000 monthly active 

10 users on average in the prior year, shall be required 

11 to submit to the Commission, on an annual basis, a 

12 filing that includes— 

13 (A) a detailed and granular description of 

14 each of the requirements in section 2 and this 

15 section; 

16 (B) the name and contact information of 

17 the consumer protection officer required under 

18 subsection (b)(4); and 

19 (C) a description of any material changes 

20 in the consumer protection program or the 

21 terms of service since the most recent prior dis22 closure to the Commission. 

23 (2) OFFICER CERTIFICATION.—For each entity 

24 that submits an annual filing under paragraph (1), 

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1 sumer protection officer required under subsection 

2 (b)(4), shall be required to certify in each such an3 nual filing that— 

4 (A) the signing officer has reviewed the fil5 ing; 

6 (B) based on such officer’s knowledge, the 

7 filing does not contain any untrue statement of 

8 a material fact or omit to state a material fact 

9 necessary to make the statements, in light of 

10 the circumstances under which such statements 

11 were made, not misleading; 

12 (C) based on such officer’s knowledge, the 

13 filing fairly presents in all material respects the 

14 consumer protection practices of the social 

15 media platform or online marketplace; and 

16 (D) the signing consumer protection offi17 cer— 

18 (i) is responsible for establishing and 

19 maintaining safeguards and controls to 

20 protect consumers and administer the con21 sumer protection program; and 

22 (ii) has provided all material conclu23 sions about the effectiveness of such safe24 guards and controls. 


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1 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission 

2 shall make publicly available on the website of the 

3 Commission the filings submitted under paragraph 

4 (1). The Commission may withhold information in5 cluded in such a filing if the Commission determines 

6 such information should not be public. If the Com7 mission withholds any information, the Commission 

8 shall make publicly available on the website the cat9 egory of information withheld and the reasons for 

10 withholding it. 

11 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

12 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS13 SION.— 

14 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC15 TICES.—Any violation of this Act shall be treated as 

16 a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) 

17 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or 

19 practices. 

20 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Commis21 sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by 

22 the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

23 powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 

24 and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

25 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 


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1 made a part of this Act. Any person who violates 

2 this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled 

3 to the privileges and immunities provided in the 

4 Federal Trade Commission Act. 

5 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall promul6 gate regulations under section 553 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

8 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

9 (1) ENFORCEMENT BY INDIVIDUALS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—An individual alleging 

11 damages as a result of a violation of this Act 

12 may bring a civil action in any court of com13 petent jurisdiction, State or Federal. 

14 (B) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought 

15 under subparagraph (A) in which the plaintiff 

16 prevails, the court may award— 

17 (i) damages as provided in subpara18 graph (C); 

19 (ii) reasonable attorney’s fees and liti20 gation costs; and 

21 (iii) any other relief, including equi22 table or declaratory relief, that the court 

23 determines appropriate. 


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1 (C) DAMAGES.—A prevailing plaintiff is 

2 entitled to actual damages as a result of the 

3 violation of this Act. 

4 (2) INVALIDITY OF PRE-DISPUTE ARBITRATION

5 AGREEMENTS AND PRE-DISPUTE JOINT ACTION

6 WAIVERS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

8 other provision of law, no pre-dispute arbitra9 tion agreement or pre-dispute joint action waiv10 er shall be valid or enforceable with respect to 

11 a dispute arising under this Act. 

12 (B) APPLICABILITY.—Any determination 

13 as to whether or how this paragraph applies to 

14 any dispute shall be made by a court, rather 

15 than an arbitrator, without regard to whether 

16 such agreement purports to delegate such deter17 mination to an arbitrator. 

18 (C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

19 (i) PRE-DISPUTE ARBITRATION

20 AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘pre-dispute arbi21 tration agreement’’ means any agreement 

22 to arbitrate a dispute that has not arisen 

23 at the time of making the agreement. 

24 (ii) PRE-DISPUTE JOINT-ACTION

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1 tion waiver’’ means an agreement, whether 

2 or not part of a pre-dispute arbitration 

3 agreement, that would prohibit, or waive 

4 the right of, one of the parties to the 

5 agreement to participate in a joint, class, 

6 or collective action in a judicial, arbitral, 

7 administration, or other forum, concerning 

8 a dispute that has not yet arisen at the 

9 time of making the agreement. 

10 (iii) DISPUTE.—The term ‘‘dispute’’ 

11 means any claim related to an alleged vio12 lation of this Act and between an indi13 vidual and a covered organization. 

14 (d) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN15 ERAL.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the chief law enforcement 

17 officer of a State, or an official or agency designated 

18 by a State, has reason to believe that any person has 

19 violated or is violating this Act, the attorney general, 

20 official, or agency of the State, in addition to any 

21 authority it may have to bring an action in State 

22 court under its consumer protection law, may bring 

23 a civil action in any appropriate United States dis24 trict court or in any other court of competent juris25 diction, including a State court, to— 


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1 (A) enjoin further such violation by such 

2 person; 

3 (B) enforce compliance with this Act; 

4 (C) obtain civil penalties; and 

5 (D) obtain damages, restitution, or other 

6 compensation on behalf of residents of the 

7 State. 

8 (2) NOTICE AND INTERVENTION BY THE

9 FTC.—The attorney general of a State shall provide 

10 prior written notice of any action under paragraph 

11 (1) to the Commission and provide the Commission 

12 with a copy of the complaint in the action, except in 

13 any case in which such prior notice is not feasible, 

14 in which case the attorney general shall serve such 

15 notice immediately upon instituting such action. The 

16 Commission shall have the right— 

17 (A) to intervene in the action; 

18 (B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all 

19 matters arising therein; and 

20 (C) to file petitions for appeal. 

21 (3) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FED22 ERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Commission has 

23 instituted a civil action for violation of this Act, no 

24 State attorney general, or official or agency of a 

25 State, may bring an action under this subsection 


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1 during the pendency of that action against any de2 fendant named in the complaint of the Commission 

3 for any violation of this Act alleged in the complaint. 

4 (4) RELATIONSHIP WITH STATE-LAW CLAIMS.— 

5 If the attorney general of a State has authority to 

6 bring an action under State law directed at acts or 

7 practices that also violate this Act, the attorney gen8 eral may assert the State-law claim and a claim 

9 under this Act in the same civil action. 

10 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 

11 (a) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.—Section 230 of the 

12 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) shall not 

13 apply to any violation of this Act. 

14 (b) EFFECT ON STATE LAWS.—Nothing in this Act 

15 or any regulation promulgated under this Act shall pre16 empt or otherwise affect any State or local law. 

17 (c) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

18 the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is 

19 held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application 

20 of such provision to other persons not similarly situated 

21 or to other circumstances shall not be affected by the in22 validation. 


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1 SEC. 6. FTC ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230(e) of the Commu3 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON FTC ENFORCEMENT.— 

6 Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair 

7 the enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission 

8 of any provision of law enforced by the Federal 

9 Trade Commission.’’. 

10 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 

11 section shall apply with respect to any action or pro12 ceeding that is commenced on or after the date of the en13 actment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

15 As used in this Act, the following definitions apply: 

16 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

17 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

18 (2) CONSUMER PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘con19 sumer product’’ has the meaning given such term in 

20 section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)). 

22 (3) CYBER HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘cyber 

23 harassment’’ means electronic communication that 

24 harasses, torments, threatens, or terrorizes a target. 


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1 (4) ONLINE MARKETPLACE.—The term ‘‘online 

2 marketplace’’ means a website or web application, 

3 that— 

4 (A) includes features that allow for, facili5 tate, or enable third-party sellers to engage in 

6 the sale, purchase, payment, storage, shipping, 

7 or delivery of a consumer product in the United 

8 States; and 

9 (B) hosts one or more third-party sellers. 

10 (5) SELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ means a per11 son or entity that sells, offers to sell, or contracts to 

12 sell a consumer product through an online market13 place’s platform. 

14 (6) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘so15 cial media platform’’ means a website or mobile web 

16 application that— 

17 (A) permits a person to become a reg18 istered user, establish an account, or create a 

19 profile for the purpose of allowing the user to 

20 create, share, and view user-generated content 

21 through such an account or profile; 

22 (B) enables one or more users to generate 

23 content that can be viewed by other users of the 

24 platform; and 


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1 (C) primarily serves as a medium for users 

2 to interact with content generated by other 

3 users of the medium and for the platform to de4 liver ads to users. 

5 (7) USER.—The term ‘‘user’’ means a person 

6 or entity that uses a social media platform or online 

7 marketplace for any purpose, including advertisers 

8 and sellers, regardless of whether that person has an 

9 account or is otherwise registered with the platform. 

Æ 


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