I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1231 
To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to reaffirm 
civil rights, victims’ rights, and consumer protections. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2023 
Ms. CASTOR of Florida (for herself and Mr. LEVIN) 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 reaffirm civil rights, victims’ rights, and consumer 
protections. 
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 ‘‘Safeguarding Against 
Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer 
Harms Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE TECH Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT IMPROVEMENTS. 
Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 230) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
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(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (3), no provider’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘any information’’ and 
inserting ‘‘any speech’’; 
(iii) by inserting before the period at 
the end the following: ‘‘, unless the pro-
vider or user has accepted payment to 
make the speech available or, in whole or 
in part, created or funded the creation of 
the speech’’; and 
(iv) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In any ac-
tion in which the defendant raises subpara-
graph (A) as a defense, the defendant shall 
have the burden of persuasion, by a preponder-
ance of the evidence, that the defendant is a 
provider or user of an interactive computer 
service and is being treated as the publisher or 
speaker of speech provided by another informa-
tion content provider.’’; 
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(B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 
‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 
(A)’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) EXCLUSION FROM ‘GOOD SAMARITAN’ IM-
MUNITY.— 
‘‘(A) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Paragraph (1) 
shall not apply to any request for injunctive re-
lief arising from the failure of an interactive 
computer service provider to remove, restrict 
access to or availability of, or prevent dissemi-
nation of material that is likely to cause irrep-
arable harm. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—In the 
case of an interactive computer service provider 
that complies with an order granting injunctive 
relief described in subparagraph (A), such com-
pliance shall not subject the interactive com-
puter service provider to liability for removing, 
restricting access to or availability of, or pre-
venting dissemination of material subject to the 
order.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 
following: 
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‘‘(6) NO
EFFECT
ON
CIVIL
RIGHTS
LAWS.— 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, 
impair, or prevent any action alleging discrimination 
on the basis of any protected class, or conduct that 
has the effect or consequence of discriminating on 
the basis of any protected class, under any Federal 
or State law. 
‘‘(7) NO EFFECT ON ANTITRUST LAWS.—Noth-
ing in this section shall be construed to prevent, im-
pair, or limit any action brought under Federal or 
State antitrust law. 
‘‘(8) NO EFFECT ON STALKING, HARASSMENT, 
OR
INTIMIDATION
LAWS.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to prevent, impair, or limit any 
action alleging stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, 
cyberharassment, or intimidation based, in whole or 
in part, on sex (including sexual orientation and 
gender identity), race, color, religion, ancestry, na-
tional origin, or physical or mental disability brought 
under Federal or State law. 
‘‘(9) NO EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN 
RIGHTS LAW.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to prevent, impair, or limit any action 
brought under section 1350 of title 28, United 
States Code. 
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‘‘(10) NO EFFECT ON WRONGFUL DEATH AC-
TIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 
to prevent, impair, or limit any civil action for a 
wrongful death.’’. 
Æ 
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