Preserving Political Speech Online Act

To improve fairness in political speech, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Preserving Political Speech Online Act 2. Fairness in political advertising (a) In general Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to require any online platform or third party advertiser that displays, hosts, or otherwise allows the advertisement of a legally qualified candidate in an election for Federal office to abide by the following rules of fair access and equal opportunity: (1) Any online platform or third party advertiser who permits a legally qualified candidate in an election for Federal office to display or otherwise post an advertisement on such online platform or through such third party advertiser shall afford equal advertisement opportunities to any other legally qualified candidate for such office in such election. (2) Any online platform or third party advertiser shall charge comparable rates to each legally qualified candidate for any advertising service described in paragraph (1). (3) Any online platform or third party advertiser shall have no power of censorship over the content of any advertisement described in this subsection. (b) Transparency requirement An online platform shall maintain, and make available online for public inspection in a machine readable format, a complete record of any purchase of an advertising service by a legally qualified candidate on such online platform within 24 hours of such purchase. (c) Enforcement by the Commission (1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices A violation of subsection (a) or (b) or a rule promulgated thereunder shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or a deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B) (2) Powers of the Commission (A) In general The Commission shall enforce this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq. (B) Privileges and immunities Any person who violates subsection (a) or (b) or a rule promulgated thereunder shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq. (C) Authority preserved Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission under any other provision of law. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Commission The term Commission (2) Election The term election 52 U.S.C. 30101 (3) Federal office The term Federal office 52 U.S.C. 30101 (4) Legally qualified candidate The term legally qualified candidate 47 U.S.C. 315 (5) Online platform The term online platform (6) Third party advertiser The term third party advertiser 3. Application of Federal Communications Commission equal opportunity requirements to additional licensees Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 301 et seq. 344. Application of equal opportunity principles to licensees that serve political advertising through other means Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to apply the principles of equal opportunity under sections 312(a)(7) and 315 to any licensee that— (1) displays, hosts, or otherwise allows the advertisement of a legally qualified candidate for any public office; and (2) is not already subject to those principles under this Act or under a regulation promulgated by the Commission. . 4. Protection for Good Samaritan Section 230(c)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 230(c)(2) (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; (2) in clause (i), as so redesignated— (A) by striking filthy, (B) by striking harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected harassing or threatening, or promoting illegal activity (3) in clause (ii), as so redesignated, by striking paragraph (1) clause (i) (4) in the matter preceding clause (i), as so redesignated, by striking No provider or user (A) In general No provider or user ; and (5) by adding at the end the following: (B) Prohibition of bad faith blocking and screening (i) In general For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), it shall not be considered good faith for a provider of an interactive computer service to block, censor, or screen material on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or political affiliation or speech. (ii) Exception Clause (i) shall not apply to a provider of an interactive computer service that operates services dedicated to a specific set of issues, policies, beliefs, or viewpoints. .

Summary: Preserving Political Speech Online Act This bill addresses issues related to online political advertising. First, the bill directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to require any online platform (e.g., a social network or search engine) or third-party advertiser that displays, hosts, or allows the advertisement of a legally qualified candidate for federal office to follow specific rules in advertising. These rules include affording equal advertisement opportunities to candidates and charging comparable rates to each candidate. An online platform or third-party advertiser may not censor these advertisements. In addition, the bill requires online platforms to maintain and make publicly available a complete record of any purchase of political advertising within 24 hours of the purchase. The FTC must enforce these requirements related to advertising and treat any violation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice. Next, the bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to initiate a rulemaking to apply certain existing laws related to political advertising to all licensees that engage in political advertising. The bill also establishes an exception to the immunity of a provider of an interactive computer service from liability for screening and blocking offensive content on its platform. The bill removes this immunity from a provider that blocks, censors, or screens material on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or political affiliation or speech. The bill includes an exception for services that are dedicated to a specific set of issues, policies, beliefs, or viewpoints.