Stop Suppressing Speech Act of 2020

Stop Suppressing Speech Act of 2020

This bill modifies a social media company's immunity from liability for screening and blocking offensive content on its platform.

Under current law, the immunity applies for action taken to restrict content that is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable. The bill eliminates immunity for restricting content that is otherwise objectionable and applies such immunity when a company restricts content that is unlawful or that promotes violence or terrorism.

Under current law, such immunity also applies to actions taken to enable or make available the technical means to restrict access to such content. The bill applies this immunity to actions taken that provide users with the option to restrict access to any material, regardless of whether such material is constitutionally protected.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4828 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4828

   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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             October 21 (legislative day, October 19), 2020

 Mrs. Loeffler introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Suppressing Speech Act of 
2020''.

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 ``harassing, or otherwise 
                        objectionable'' and inserting ``or harassing, 
                        that the provider or user determines to be 
                        unlawful, or that promotes violence or 
                        terrorism''; 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.''.
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