H.R. 8517 · 116th Congress
Protect Speech Act
Key: what the circles and colors mean
Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:
Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.
Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.
Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 116th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
JordanSponsor18 cosponsors · 18 R
R
Buck
AB
R
Biggs
DC
R
Collins
BC
R
Cline
LG
R
Gohmert
DL
R
Lesko
TM
R
McClintock
GR
R
Reschenthaler
FS
R
Sensenbrenner
WS
R
Steube
TT
R
Tiffany
KH
R
Hern
JH
R
Hagedorn
MJ
R
Johnson
BP
R
Posey
JR
R
Rutherford
VB
R
Buchanan
JR
R
Rose11 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill modifies the immunity from liability of a provider or user of an interactive computer service (e.g., a social media company) for screening and blocking offensive content on its platform.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Oct 2, 2020
Protect Speech Act
This bill modifies the immunity from liability of a provider or user of an interactive computer service (e.g., a social media company) for screening and blocking offensive content on its platform.
Specifically, the bill provides that this immunity shall not apply to any action taken to restrict access to or availability of material provided by another information content provider unless the action is taken in good faith based on an objectively reasonable belief that the material is (1) obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, promoting terrorism or violent extremism, harassing, promoting self-harm, or unlawful; or (2) violates the applicable terms of service or use.
In order to avoid liability for taking action based on either belief, certain good faith requirements must be met, such as (1) making publicly available terms of service or use that plainly state the criteria for content moderation practices, and (2) not restricting access to or availability of material on deceptive grounds.
Further, the bill specifies that being responsible in whole or in part for the creation or development of information includes instances in which a person or entity solicits, comments upon, funds, or affirmatively and substantively contributes to, modifies, or alters information provided by another person or entity.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Protect Speech Act
Latest action (Oct 2, 2020): Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications · Origin: House · Introduced: Oct 2, 2020
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.