I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7012 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit online 
platforms and certain intermediaries from targeting the dissemination 
of political advertisements to a specific group of individuals on the 
basis of online behavioral data or on the basis of demographic character-
istics shared by members of the group, to require online platforms 
and certain intermediaries to maintain public records of certain political 
advertisements, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 26, 2020 
Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. 
HAYES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. LYNCH) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra-
tion 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
prohibit online platforms and certain intermediaries from 
targeting the dissemination of political advertisements 
to a specific group of individuals on the basis of online 
behavioral data or on the basis of demographic character-
istics shared by members of the group, to require online 
platforms and certain intermediaries to maintain public 
records of certain political advertisements, and for other 
purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Democracy 
From Disinformation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS 
DISSEMINATED BY ONLINE PLATFORMS OR 
ARRANGED FOR DISSEMINATION BY CERTAIN 
INTERMEDIARIES. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Title III of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 325. REQUIREMENTS FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISE-
MENTS DISSEMINATED BY ONLINE PLAT-
FORMS OR ARRANGED FOR DISSEMINATION 
BY CERTAIN INTERMEDIARIES. 
‘‘(a) RESTRICTIONS ON MICROTARGETING.— 
‘‘(1) RESTRICTIONS ON ADVERTISEMENTS TAR-
GETED AT GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS ON BASIS OF ON-
LINE BEHAVIORAL DATA.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (3), a covered online platform may 
not target the dissemination of a qualified polit-
ical advertisement, and a covered intermediary 
may not arrange for the dissemination of a 
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qualified political advertisement, to a specific 
group of individuals on the basis of any online 
behavioral data of such individuals. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR DISSEMINATION 
TO INDIVIDUALS ON LIST PROVIDED BY SPON-
SOR OF ADVERTISEMENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A covered online 
platform which targets the dissemination 
of a qualified political advertisement to a 
specific group of individuals on a list pro-
vided by the sponsor of the advertisement, 
and a covered intermediary which arranges 
for the dissemination of a qualified polit-
ical advertisement to a specific group of in-
dividuals on a list provided by the sponsor 
of the advertisement, shall not be consid-
ered to be in violation of this paragraph if 
the platform or intermediary made a good 
faith effort to ensure that individuals are 
not included on the list on the basis of 
their online behavioral data. 
‘‘(ii) SAFE HARBOR FOR PLATFORMS 
AND INTERMEDIARIES REQUIRING CERTIFI-
CATION BY ADVERTISER.—For purposes of 
clause (i), a covered online platform and a 
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covered intermediary shall be considered to 
have made a good faith effort to ensure 
that the individuals on a list provided by 
the sponsor of a qualified political adver-
tisement are not included on the list on the 
basis of their online behavioral data if the 
platform or intermediary requires the ad-
vertiser to certify that each individual on 
the list subscribed to the list or consented 
to being included on the list. 
‘‘(C) ONLINE
BEHAVIORAL
DATA
DE-
FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘online be-
havioral data’ means, with respect to an indi-
vidual, information that is tracked, collected, or 
maintained about an individual’s actions or ac-
tivities online, including information relating to 
an individual’s activity across businesses, dis-
tinctly branded websites, applications, or serv-
ices, but does not include information relating 
to an individual’s activity with a business, dis-
tinctly branded website, application, or service 
with which the individual intentionally interacts. 
‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON ADVERTISEMENTS TAR-
GETED
AT
GROUP
OF
INDIVIDUALS
ON
BASIS
OF 
SHARED DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTIC.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (3), a covered online platform may 
not target the dissemination of a qualified polit-
ical advertisement, and a covered intermediary 
may not arrange for the dissemination of a 
qualified political advertisement, to a specific 
group of individuals on the basis of any demo-
graphic characteristic shared by members of 
such group unless— 
‘‘(i) the demographic characteristic is 
described in subparagraph (B); and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered online 
platform, the platform disseminates with 
the advertisement the accompanying state-
ment described in paragraph (4). 
‘‘(B) 
DEMOGRAPHIC
CHARACTERISTICS 
DESCRIBED.—The demographic characteristics 
described in this subparagraph with respect to 
a group of individuals are the following: 
‘‘(i) The age of the members of the 
group. 
‘‘(ii) The gender of the members of 
the group. 
‘‘(iii) The geographic area in which 
the members of the group reside, except 
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that such area may not be smaller than the 
ZIP Code in which the members of the 
group reside. 
‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit 
a covered online platform or a covered inter-
mediary from using online behavioral data (as 
described in such paragraph) with respect to an 
individual to determine the demographic char-
acteristics described in subparagraph (B) which 
apply to such individual. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR TARGETING ON A CON-
TEXTUAL BASIS.— 
‘‘(A) EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) and 
(2) do not apply if— 
‘‘(i) a covered online platform targets 
the dissemination of a qualified political 
advertisement, or a covered intermediary 
arranges for the dissemination of a quali-
fied political advertisement, to a specific 
group of individuals on a contextual basis 
as described in subparagraph (B); and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered online 
platform, the platform disseminates with 
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the advertisement the accompanying state-
ment described in paragraph (4). 
‘‘(B) 
DISSEMINATION
OF
ADVERTISE-
MENTS ON CONTEXTUAL BASIS.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), a covered online platform 
disseminates a qualified political advertisement 
on a contextual basis, and a covered inter-
mediary arranges for the dissemination of a 
qualified political advertisement on a contextual 
basis, if the advertisement involved is dissemi-
nated solely on the basis of the content that the 
individual is viewing on the covered online plat-
form at the same time the advertisement ap-
pears on the covered online platform and is not 
otherwise disseminated on the basis of online 
behavioral data with respect to such individual. 
‘‘(4) 
ACCOMPANYING
STATEMENT
DE-
SCRIBED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The accompanying 
statement described in this paragraph is, with 
respect to a qualified political advertisement, a 
statement made in a clear and conspicuous 
manner which states that the dissemination of 
the advertisement is targeted to a specific 
group of individuals and which includes— 
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‘‘(i) in the case of the statement re-
quired under paragraph (2)(A), a descrip-
tion of the demographic characteristic on 
which the group was targeted; and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of the statement re-
quired under paragraph (3)(A), a descrip-
tion of the content on which the dissemina-
tion of the advertisement is based. 
‘‘(B) SAFE
HARBOR
FOR
DETERMINING 
CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), a statement shall be 
considered to be made in a clear and con-
spicuous manner if the statement is displayed 
onscreen above the qualified political advertise-
ment in the format in which the advertisement 
appears. 
‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC-
TION.— 
‘‘(A) RIGHT
TO
FILE
ACTION.—An ag-
grieved person alleging a violation of this sub-
section may bring a civil action against any cov-
ered online platform or covered intermediary in 
an appropriate district court for damages, de-
claratory, injunctive relief, or any other relief 
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the court deems appropriate with respect to the 
violation. 
‘‘(B) DAMAGES.—(i) If the court finds 
that the defendant violated this subsection or 
the regulations prescribed under this sub-
section, the court may, in its discretion, award 
up to $100,000 in damages to plaintiff per vio-
lation. 
‘‘(ii) If the court finds that the defendant 
knowingly and willfully violated this subsection 
or the regulations prescribed under this sub-
section, the court may, in its discretion, in-
crease the amount of the award to an amount 
equal to not more than 3 times the amount per 
violation available under clause (i). 
‘‘(C) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action 
under this paragraph, the court may allow the 
prevailing party (other than the United States) 
reasonable attorney fees, including litigation ex-
penses, and costs. 
‘‘(D) RELATION TO OTHER REMEDIES.— 
The remedy established by this paragraph is in 
addition to all other rights and remedies pro-
vided under this Act. 
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