I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3184 

To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that 

such section has no effect on civil rights laws with respect to the targeting of covered advertisements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2021 

Ms. CLARKE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 

to clarify that such section has no effect on civil rights 

laws with respect to the targeting of covered advertisements, 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 ‘‘Civil Rights Mod5 ernization Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NO EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS WITH RESPECT 

2 TO TARGETING OF COVERED ADVERTISE3 MENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230(e) of the Commu5 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) NO EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS WITH

8 RESPECT TO TARGETING OF COVERED ADVERTISE9 MENTS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

10 to impair or limit, with respect to the targeting of 

11 a covered advertisement by a provider of an inter12 active computer service— 

13 ‘‘(A) an investigation under, or the en14 forcement of, any civil rights law; 

15 ‘‘(B) any claim in an administrative or 

16 civil action arising under any civil rights law; or 

17 ‘‘(C) any charge in a criminal prosecution 

18 for a violation of any civil rights law.’’. 

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 230(f) of the Commu20 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)) is amended by 

21 adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(5) CIVIL RIGHTS LAW.—The term ‘civil rights 

23 law’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) any Federal, State, or local law, any 

25 part of which prohibits discrimination or other 


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1 adverse action on the basis of a protected class 

2 or status; 

3 ‘‘(B) any other Federal law that is admin4 istered or enforced, in whole or in part, by the 

5 Civil Rights Division of the Department of Jus6 tice; or 

7 ‘‘(C) any Federal, State, or local law that 

8 prohibits the dissemination of false or mis9 leading information intended, with respect to an 

10 election for public office, to prevent voters from 

11 casting their ballots or to prevent voters from 

12 voting for the candidate of their choice. 

13 ‘‘(6) TARGETING.—The term ‘targeting’ means 

14 the use by a provider of an interactive computer 

15 service of any information technology, including an 

16 algorithm or a software application, to deliver or 

17 show a covered advertisement to any particular sub18 set of users who are part of or have a protected 

19 class or status. 

20 ‘‘(7) COVERED ADVERTISEMENT.—The term 

21 ‘covered advertisement’ means an advertisement for 

22 the delivery or publishing of which a provider of an 

23 interactive computer service receives any consider24 ation (monetary or otherwise) directly from the ad25 vertiser. 


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1 ‘‘(8) PROTECTED CLASS OR STATUS.—The term 

2 ‘protected class or status’ means actual or perceived 

3 race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex 

4 (including sexual orientation and gender identity), 

5 age, disability, familial status, pregnancy, genetic in6 formation, or citizenship or immigration status. 

7 ‘‘(9) GENETIC INFORMATION.—The term ‘ge8 netic information’ has the meaning given such term 

9 in section 201 of the Genetic Information Non10 discrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff).’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply with respect to the targeting of 

13 a covered advertisement that occurs on or after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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