Social Media Fraud Mitigation Act
This bill establishes new criminal offenses for fraudulent activities involving communications through social media, email, or other electronic messages.
First, the bill makes it unlawful to post or send messages through a fake social media account or profile to cause or threaten to cause financial or physical harm to an individual. A violation is punishable by a fine, a maximum prison term of up to one year (or up to five years if the offense is a repeat offense), or both.
Second, the bill makes is unlawful to send a fraudulent email or other electronic message to deceive the recipient and cause or threaten to cause financial or physical harm to an individual. A violation is punishable by a fine, a prison term of up to one year (or up to six years if the offense is intended to solicit an emergency response), or both.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4654 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4654
To prohibit the creation and use of fake social media accounts or
profiles and the sending of fraudulent emails or other electronic
messages.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2021
Mr. Kinzinger introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the creation and use of fake social media accounts or
profiles and the sending of fraudulent emails or other electronic
messages.
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 ``Social Media Fraud Mitigation Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) The term ``social media company'' means any individual,
business, organization, or other similar entity who owns,
manages, or operates a social media platform to facilitate
foreign or interstate commerce.
(2) The term ``social media platform''--
(A) means a website or internet medium that--
(i) permits a person to become a registered
user, establish an account, or create a profile
for the purpose of allowing users to create,
share, and view user-generated content through
such an account or profile;
(ii) enables one or more users to generate
content that can be viewed by other users of
the medium; and
(iii) primarily serves as a medium for
users to interact with content generated by
other users of the medium; and
(B) does not include--
(i) any such platform that serves fewer
than 100,000 users;
(ii) an email program, message board
program, email distribution lists, multi-person
text message groups, or a website that is
primarily for the purpose of internet commerce;
(iii) a private platform or messaging
service used by an entity solely to communicate
with others employed by or affiliated with such
entity; or
(iv) an internet-based platform whose
primary purpose is--
(I) to allow users to post product
reviews, business reviews, travel
information and reviews; or
(II) to provide news or
entertainment content, but that may
also include a comment section for
users to discuss such news or
entertainment.
SEC. 3. CRIMINAL OFFENSES RELATED TO FRAUDULENT SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
OR PROFILES AND FRAUDULENT EMAILS OR OTHER ELECTRONIC
MESSAGES.
(a) Fraudulent Accounts or Profiles.--Whoever causes financial or
physical harm, or threatens financial or physical harm to any
individual, and uses the name or likeness of another individual to--
(1) create or maintain an account or profile on a social
media platform that purports to be an account or profile of
another individual without the consent of the individual whose
name or likeness is used; and
(2) post or send one or more messages on or through an
account or profile described in paragraph (1),
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not
more than 1 year, or both, except that if the person has previously
been convicted under this subsection, such person shall be fined under
such title, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
(b) Fraudulent Emails or Other Electronic Messages.--Whoever causes
financial or physical harm, or threatens financial or physical harm to
any individual, by sending an email or other electronic message that
contains identifying information belonging to any other individual,
including a name, domain address, or phone number--
(1) without obtaining the other individual's consent; and
(2) with the intent to cause a reasonable person who is a
recipient of the email or other electronic message to believe
that the email or electronic message was sent by or authorized
by the other individual,
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not
more than 1 year, or both, except that if the person commits the
offense with the intent to solicit a response by emergency personnel,
such person may be fined under such title or imprisoned for not more
than 6 years, or both.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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