Title: Stop the Censorship Act
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Stop the Censorship Act
This bill limits a social media company's immunity from liability for screening and blocking offensive content on its platform. The bill applies such immunity when the company restricts content that is unlawful rather than merely objectionable.
Under current law, such immunity also applies to actions taken to enable or make available the technical means to restrict access to material that is objectionable. The bill instead specifies that this immunity applies to actions taken to (1) make available the technical means to restrict access to material that is unlawful, or (2) provide users with the option to restrict access to any material.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4027 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4027

   To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (commonly 
referred to as the Communications Decency Act) to stop censorship, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2019

Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Meadows, Mr. King of Iowa, and Mr. Norman) 
 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 (commonly 
referred to as the Communications Decency Act) to stop censorship, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop the Censorship Act''.

SEC. 2. REVOCATION OF IMMUNITIES.

    Section 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)) 
is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``and Screening of 
        Offensive Material'' and inserting ``of Unlawful or 
        Objectionable Material''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``material that the 
                        provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, 
                        lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, 
                        harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether 
                        or not such material is constitutionally 
                        protected'' and inserting ``unlawful 
                        material''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``; or'' and inserting a 
                        semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``paragraph 
                (1).'' and inserting ``subparagraph (A); or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(C) any action taken to provide users with the 
                option to restrict access to any other material, 
                whether or not such material is constitutionally 
                protected.''.
                                 <all>