Platform Accountability and Transparency Act
This bill increases access to the data of large technology platforms (i.e., platforms with at least 50 million unique monthly users in the United States) in order to facilitate research concerning activities on those platforms, particularly by requiring platforms to disclose data to researchers who participate in a research program jointly established by the National Science Foundation and the Federal Trade Commission.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5339 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5339
To support research about the impact of digital communication platforms
on society by providing privacy-protected, secure pathways for
independent research on data held by large internet companies.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 21, 2022
Mr. Coons (for himself, Mr. Portman, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Cassidy)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support research about the impact of digital communication platforms
on society by providing privacy-protected, secure pathways for
independent research on data held by large internet companies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Platform
Accountability and Transparency Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Qualified research projects, qualified researchers, and
qualified data and information.
Sec. 4. Obligations and immunity for platforms.
Sec. 5. Obligations and immunity for qualified researchers.
Sec. 6. Reporting.
Sec. 7. Enforcement.
Sec. 8. Amendment to the Communications Decency Act.
Sec. 9. Establishing a safe harbor for research on social media
platforms.
Sec. 10. Rulemaking authority.
Sec. 11. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 12. Severability.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Chair.--The term ``Chair'' means the Chair of the
Federal Trade Commission.
(3) NSF.--The term ``NSF'' means the National Science
Foundation.
(4) Personal information.--The term ``personal
information'' means any information, regardless of how the
information is collected, inferred, or obtained that is linked
or reasonably linkable to a specific consumer or consumer
device.
(5) Platform.--The term ``platform'' means any entity
subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission
under section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 45(a)(2)) that--
(A) operates a website, desktop application,
augmented or virtual reality application, or mobile
application that--
(i) permits a person to become a registered
user, establish an account, or create a profile
for the purpose of allowing the user 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 platform; and
(iii) primarily serves as a medium for
users to interact with content generated by
other users of the platform and for the
platform to deliver ads to users; and
(B) has at least 50,000,000 unique monthly users in
the United States for a majority of the months in the
most recent 12-month period.
(6) Qualified data and information.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
term ``qualified data and information'' means data and
information from a platform--
(i) that the NSF determines is necessary to
allow a qualified researcher to carry out a
qualified research project; and
(ii) that--
(I) is feasible for the platform to
provide;
(II) is proportionate to the needs
of the qualified researchers to
complete the qualified research
project;
(III) will not cause the platform
undue burden in providing the data and
information to the qualified
researcher; and
(IV) would not be otherwise
available to the qualified researcher.
(B) Exclusions.--Such term does not include any of
the following:
(i) Direct and private messages between
users.
(ii) Biometric information, such as a
fingerprint, voiceprint, eye retinas, irises,
or other unique biological patterns or
characteristics.
(iii) Precise geospatial information.
(7) Qualified researcher.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
term ``qualified researcher'' means a researcher
affiliated with a United States university or a United
States nonprofit organization (as described in section
501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) that is
specifically identified in a research proposal that is
approved as a qualified research project pursuant to
section 3.
(B) Exclusion.--Such term does not include a
researcher who is affiliated with a Federal, State,
local, or tribal law enforcement or intelligence
agency.
(8) Qualified research project.--The term ``qualified
research project'' means a research plan that has been approved
pursuant to section 3.
(9) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States
of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern
Mariana Islands.
(10) User.--The term ``user'' means a person that uses a
platform for any purpose, including advertisers and sellers,
regardless of whether that person has an account or is
otherwise registered with the platform.
SEC. 3. QUALIFIED RESEARCH PROJECTS, QUALIFIED RESEARCHERS, AND
QUALIFIED DATA AND INFORMATION.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the NSF and the Commission shall jointly
establish a research program to review research applications for
approval as qualified research projects.
(b) Research Program Requirements.--The research program
established by the NSF and the Commission under this section shall--
(1) provide that the NSF shall--
(A) establish a process to solicit research
applications in order to identify qualified research
projects;
(B) review research applications for scientific
merit;
(C) ensure research applications identify proposed
qualified researchers;
(D) publish guidelines and criteria to be used by
the NSF in determining how it will review research
applications seeking approval to be a qualified
research project;
(E) identify, in consultation with the Commission,
what data and information in a platform's possession
will be qualified data and information for the purposes
of carrying out a qualified research project;
(F) ensure that approved research applications do
not request data described in section 2(6)(B); and
(G) prescribe and publish guidelines and criteria,
in consultation with the Commission, used to determine
how the NSF and Commission will identify qualified data
and information necessary to conduct a qualified
research project;
(2) provide that the Commission shall--
(A) review research applications for privacy and
cybersecurity risks;
(B) establish appropriate privacy and cybersecurity
safeguards that a platform must implement in the
provision of, and with which qualified researchers must
comply to access, qualified data and information that a
platform is required to share with qualified
researchers pursuant to a qualified research project,
and such safeguards--
(i) must account for the relative
sensitivity of the qualified data and
information involved and be sufficient to
protect such data and information; and
(ii) may include alternative protections,
as appropriate and in consideration of the aims
of the qualified research project, including--
(I) encryption of the data in
transit and when not in use;
(II) delivery of the data in a
format that employs methods to prevent
qualified researchers from identifying
individuals in the dataset;
(III) data access logs; and
(IV) keystroke logs;
(C) in the case of each qualified research project,
consider whether to require the platform to provide a
secure physical or virtual environment to facilitate
delivery of the qualified data and information;
(D) establish appropriate privacy and cybersecurity
safeguards that a qualified researcher must implement
when receiving, storing, or analyzing qualified data
and information or generating new data using such
qualified data and information, including inferential
data based on such qualified data and information, and
such safeguards may include a requirement that a
qualified researcher delete qualified data and
information after completion of a qualified research
project, however any such safeguard must provide the
qualified researcher the ability to retain enough
information about the qualified data and information to
allow the researcher or their peers to recreate the
qualified research project upon request to, and
approval from, the NSF and Commission pursuant to this
section;
(E) publish a list of criteria for determining the
privacy and cybersecurity safeguards required for
qualified data and information related to a qualified
research project;
(F) provide platforms with the opportunity to
provide comment about the privacy and cybersecurity
safeguards required for a qualified research project;
(G) provide researchers with the opportunity to
provide comment about the privacy and cybersecurity
safeguards required for a qualified research project;
(H) establish a process to ensure that qualified
researchers will be able to comply with any such
privacy and cybersecurity safeguards; and
(I) publish a list of criteria for determining
whether qualified researchers will be able to comply
with any such privacy and cybersecurity safeguards;
(3) provide that a research application may not be denied
on grounds of the race, color, age, sex, national origin,
political affiliation, or disability of the researcher;
(4) provide that a research application shall not be
approved as a qualified research project unless it--
(A) has been approved by an institutional review
board;
(B) has been deemed exempt from institutional
review board review; or
(C) is excluded from the criteria for institutional
review board review;
(5) provide a platform the opportunity to comment on and
appeal the approval of a qualified research project for which
the platform is required to provide qualified data and
information to the NSF and Commission on the grounds that--
(A) the platform cannot provide the qualified data
and information;
(B) providing access to the qualified data and
information would lead to significant vulnerabilities
in the security of the platform's service or user
privacy; or
(C) the privacy and cybersecurity safeguards
established by the Commission are not sufficient to
protect the qualified data and information; and
(6) require that any analysis by a qualified researcher
derived from a qualified research project that the qualified
researcher intends to publish undergo prepublication review by
the Commission to ensure that the analysis does not expose
personal information, or trade secrets.
(c) Qualified Researcher Capacity.--A qualified research project
may not proceed unless the proposed qualified researchers can
demonstrate that they have the capacity to comply with the privacy and
cybersecurity safeguards established for the qualified research
project.
(d) Aim of Project.--A research application shall not be approved
as a qualified research project unless it is in the public interest,
aims to study activity on a platform, and is used for noncommercial
purposes.
(e) No Judicial Review.--A determination by the Commission and the
NSF under this section regarding whether a research application will be
deemed a qualified research project shall not be subject to judicial
review.
(f) No Government Access.--If a platform provides qualified data
and information to a qualified researcher, no government entity may
seek access to such qualified data and information from the qualified
researcher.
(g) Researcher Consortia.--The Commission and NSF shall establish
procedures and necessary safeguards under this section that allow for
consortia of researchers to apply to seek data for the purpose of
conducting a series of qualified research projects.
SEC. 4. OBLIGATIONS AND IMMUNITY FOR PLATFORMS.
(a) Provision of Qualified Data and Information.--A platform shall
provide access to qualified data and information relating to a
qualified research project to a qualified researcher under the terms
and privacy and cybersecurity safeguards dictated by the Commission for
the purpose of carrying out the qualified research project.
(b) Continued Access to Qualified Data and Information.--
(1) In general.--A platform may not restrict or terminate a
qualified researcher's access to qualified data and information
for an ongoing qualified research project unless the platform
has a reasonable belief that the qualified researcher is not
acting in accordance with the cybersecurity and privacy
safeguards required for the qualified research project.
(2) Notice and review of change to access.--If a platform
restricts or terminates a qualified researcher's access to
qualified data and information for an ongoing qualified
research project--
(A) the platform shall, within a reasonable time
(as established by the Commission), inform the
Commission in writing that the platform has restricted
or terminated the qualified researcher's access to the
qualified data and information; and
(B) the Commission shall promptly review the
platform's decision and determine whether the qualified
researcher has violated the privacy and cybersecurity
safeguards established for the qualified research
project.
(c) Notice to Platform Users.--The Commission shall issue
regulations requiring that platforms, through posting of notices or
other appropriate means, keep users informed of their privacy
protections and the information that the platform is required to share
with qualified researchers under this Act.
(d) Safe Harbor.--No cause of action under State or Federal law
arising solely from the release of qualified data and information to
qualified researchers in furtherance of a qualified research project
may be brought against any platform that complies with the Act.
(e) Right of Review.--If a platform fails to provide all of the
qualified data and information required under the terms of a qualified
research project to the qualified researcher conducting the project,
the qualified researcher or the researcher's affiliated university or
nonprofit organization may bring an action in district court for
injunctive relief or petition the Commission to bring an enforcement
action against the platform.
(f) Security.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict a
platform's ability to:
(1) Take immediate steps to protect an interest that is
essential for the life or physical safety of a natural person.
(2) Respond to security incidents, identity theft, fraud,
harassment, malicious or deceptive activities, or illegal
activity, preserve the integrity of security of systems, or
investigate or report those responsible for such actions.
SEC. 5. OBLIGATIONS AND IMMUNITY FOR QUALIFIED RESEARCHERS.
(a) Scope of Permitted Use of Qualified Data and Information.--Each
qualified researcher who accesses qualified data and information shall
use the qualified data and information--
(1) only for the purposes of conducting research authorized
under the terms of the qualified research project involved; and
(2) in accordance with the privacy and cybersecurity
safeguards prescribed by the Commission for the qualified
research project.
(b) Protection of Personal Information.--A qualified researcher
that is provided access to qualified data and information for purposes
of a qualified research project may not--
(1) attempt to reidentify, disclose, publish, or use for
commercial purpose personal information derived from such
qualified data and information; or
(2) disclose such qualified data and information to a third
party for any reason.
(c) Effect of Violation of Information and Privacy Standards.--
Qualified researchers who intentionally, recklessly, or negligently
violate the privacy and cybersecurity safeguards prescribed by the
Commission for a qualified research project may be subject to both
civil and criminal enforcement, under applicable Federal, State, and
local laws. The Commission may refer any such violation to the
Department of Justice or the appropriate State law enforcement agency.
SEC. 6. REPORTING.
Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
and annually thereafter, the NSF and the Commission shall submit to the
Congress a joint report regarding the operation of this Act, which
shall include a detailed statement of all qualified research projects,
including with respect to each such project:
(1) The identity of any authorized qualified researcher and
the institution the researcher is affiliated with.
(2) The platforms required to provide qualified data and
information to qualified researchers.
(3) The categories of qualified data and information each
platform was required to provide.
(4) The terms of the privacy and cybersecurity safeguards
prescribed by the Commission to ensure the security of the
qualified data and information.
(5) Any recommendations for improvements to the operation
of this Act in order to facilitate its aim of providing
enhanced platform transparency.
SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Unfair or Deceptive Act or Practice.--
(1) In general.--A platform's failure to comply with
subsection (a) or (b) of section 4, or a qualified researcher's
failure to comply with subsection (a) or (b) of section 5,
shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or
deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B)
of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
(2) Powers of the commission.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall enforce the
provisions of this Act specified in paragraph (1) in
the same manner, by the same means, and with the same
jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated
into and made a part of this section.
(B) Privileges and immunities.--Any person that
violates the provisions of this Act specified in
paragraph (1) shall be subject to the penalties, and
entitled to the privileges and immunities, provided in
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et
seq.).
(b) Regulations.--The Commission shall have the authority to
promulgate, in the manner prescribed by 5 U.S.C. 553, such rules and
regulations as it may deem necessary to carry out its responsibilities
under this Act.
(c) Civil Enforcement Authority.--Whenever the Commission shall
have reason to believe that a platform or qualified researcher has been
or is in violation of any provision of this Act, the Commission may
commence a civil action in a district court of the United States for an
injunction against the platform or qualified researcher. Remedies in an
injunctive action brought by the Commission are limited to an order
enjoining, restraining, or preventing any act or practice that
constitutes a violation of this Act and imposing a civil penalty of up
to $10,000 for each violation, which shall accrue to the United States
and may be recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General
of the United States. Such penalty shall be in addition to other
penalties as may be prescribed by law.
(d) Attorney's Fees and Other Costs.--In the event any enforcement
action is appealed, the prevailing party in the action may, in the
discretion of the court, recover the costs of the action including
reasonable investigative costs and attorneys' fees.
SEC. 8. AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT.
Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
230(c)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``No provider or user'' and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), no provider or user''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Data access and transparency compliance.--
``(i) Definitions.--In this subparagraph,
the terms `platform', `qualified data and
information', `qualified researcher', and
`qualified research project' have the meanings
given those terms in section 2 of the Platform
Accountability and Transparency Act.
``(ii) Exception to immunity.--Subparagraph
(A) shall not apply with respect to a claim
against a provider of an interactive computer
service in a civil action if--
``(I) the provider is a platform
that has been determined by a final
order of the Federal Trade Commission
or a Federal court to have failed to
provide qualified data and information
pursuant to a qualified research
project, in violation of section 6(a)
of the Platform Accountability and
Transparency Act; and
``(II) this failure to comply was a
direct and substantial contributor to
the harm alleged by the claimant that
is the basis for the claim to
relief.''.
SEC. 9. ESTABLISHING A SAFE HARBOR FOR RESEARCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORMS.
(a) In General.--No civil claim will lie, nor will any criminal
liability accrue, against any person for collecting covered information
as part of a news-gathering or research project on a platform, so long
as--
(1) the information is collected through a covered method
of digital investigation;
(2) the purpose of the project is to inform the general
public about matters of public concern;
(3) with respect to information that is collected through a
covered method of digital investigation--
(A) the information is not used except to inform
the general public about matters of public concern; and
(B) the person takes reasonable measures to protect
the privacy of the platform's users;
(4) with respect to the creation and use of a research
account, the person takes reasonable measures to avoid
misleading the platform's users; and
(5) the project does not materially burden the technical
operation of the platform.
(b) Regulations.--No later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations
under section 553 of title 5--
(1) defining ``covered method of digital investigation,''
which phrase, as defined, must encompass--
(A) the collection of data from a platform's user-
facing interface through automated means;
(B) the collection of data donated by a user,
including through a browser extension or plug-in, where
the donation is in connection with the project and with
the user's explicit consent; and
(C) the creation or use of research accounts;
(2) defining ``covered information,'' which phrase, as
defined, must encompass--
(A) publicly available information, except that
such term should not exclude data merely because an
individual must log into an account in order to see it;
(B) information about ads shown on the platform,
including the ads themselves, the advertiser's name and
disclosure string, and information the platform
provides to users about how an ad was targeted; and
(C) any other category of information the
collection of which the Commission determines,
consistent with paragraph (3), will not unduly burden
user privacy;
(3) defining ``reasonable measures to protect the privacy
of the platform's users'' under subsection (a)(3), including by
specifying the measures that must be taken to--
(A) avoid the collection and retention of non-
public information that would readily identify a user
without that user's consent;
(B) prevent the theft and accidental disclosure of
any data collected;
(C) ensure that the data at issue is not used for
any purpose other than to inform the general public
about matters of public concern; and
(D) restrict the publication or other disclosure of
any data that would readily identify a user without the
user's consent, except when such user is--
(i) an advertiser and the data concerns an
advertisement; or
(ii) a public official, candidate for
public office, or public figure;
(4) defining ``reasonable measures to avoid misleading the
platform's users'' under subsection (a)(4); and
(5) defining ``materially burden the technical operation of
a platform'' under subsection (a)(5).
(c) Amendment of Regulations.--The Commission may, as necessary, in
consultation with relevant stakeholders, amend regulations promulgated
pursuant to subsection (b) to the extent such amendment will accomplish
the purposes of this section.
(d) Reporting.--In December of each calendar year beginning with
calendar year 2023, the Commission shall require each operator of any
platform to submit an annual report to the Commission that addresses
whether the measures prescribed under subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) of
this section are adequately protecting the platform's users.
(e) Definition of Research Account.--For purposes of this section,
the term ``research account'' means an account on a platform that is
created and used solely for the purposes of a news-gathering or
research project that meets the requirements of subsection (a) and for
no longer than is necessary to complete such project.
SEC. 10. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.
(a) Additional Reporting Requirements.--
(1) In general.--In consultation with the NSF, the
Commission may, in accordance with section 553 of title 5,
United States Code, and subject to subsection (g), issue
regulations that require platforms to make available to
qualified researchers data, metrics, or other information that
the Commission determines will facilitate independent research
in the public interest into activity on platforms.
(2) Factors.--In exercising its authority under this
subsection, the Commission shall consider the extent to which
disclosures under this subsection may facilitate collaboration
amongst qualified researchers and alleviate burdens on
platforms and qualified researchers as compared to qualified
research projects conducted pursuant to section 3.
(3) Form and frequency; retention of information.--The
Commission shall specify in the regulations the required form
and frequency of reporting or disclosures, as well as how long
information should be retained and made available. It may
require the information be provided in a form that is
accessible for analysis by qualified researchers, such as
through an application programming interface.
(4) Consultation.--The Commission shall further consult
with the National Institutes of Health and other relevant
government agencies, as appropriate, in exercising its
authority under this subsection.
(5) Applicability of prior sections.--The Commission shall
establish privacy and cybersecurity safeguards applicable to
platforms and qualified researchers for data made available to
qualified researchers under this section in the manner
described in section 3 for data made available under that
section. The obligations and immunities for platforms and
qualified researchers described in sections 4 and 5 shall apply
to data disclosed to qualified researchers under this section,
and the provisions of section 7 may be invoked to enforce this
section.
(b) Transparency of Certain Content and User Accounts.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and subject to
subsection (g), issue regulations to require platforms to make
available to the public on an ongoing basis, in a specific
section of their online interface, through a searchable and
reliable tool that allows multicriteria queries and through
application programming interfaces, a repository containing
information regarding reasonably public content on the platform
that--
(A) has been highly disseminated; or
(B) was originated or spread by major public
accounts.
(2) Disclosure of public content samplings.--The
regulations issued under paragraph (1) shall further require
platforms to disclose on an ongoing basis statistically
representative samplings of reasonably public content,
including, at a minimum, a sampling that is weighted by the
number of impressions the content receives.
(3) Required information.--The information required to be
disclosed about content described in paragraphs (1) and (2)
shall include, as appropriate--
(A) the user-generated content itself, including
any text, images, videos, links, and keywords;
(B) platform-generated content displayed in
connection with the user-generated content, including
any dates, labels, disclaimers, or metrics;
(C) metrics about the extent of dissemination of or
engagement with the content, including the number of
impressions, reach, and engagements;
(D) information about the extent to which the
content was recommended, amplified, or restricted by
platform algorithms or policies;
(E) reasonably public information about the user
accounts responsible for the content; and
(F) public uniform resource locators that uniquely
link to the content and identify related materials such
as the parent content, replying content, and cross-
posted content.
(4) Highly disseminated content.--As part of the
regulations issued under paragraph (1), the Commission shall
define ``highly disseminated'' according to metrics that the
Commission deems appropriate (which may include engagement,
views, reach, impressions, or other metrics), provided that a
piece of content must have been viewed by at least 10,000
unique users to qualify.
(5) Major public accounts.--As part of the regulations
issued under paragraph (1), the Commission shall define ``major
public accounts'' as it deems appropriate, provided that, at a
minimum, ``major public accounts'' are restricted to reasonably
public accounts whose content is followed by at least 25,000
users or otherwise regularly reaches at least 25,000 users per
month.
(6) Treatment of content that has been removed.--The
regulations described in paragraph (1) shall provide guidance
regarding disclosure of content that is removed by the user or
platform subsequent to its dissemination.
(7) Frequency.--To the extent practicable, the Commission
shall require this information to be updated so as to provide a
real-time understanding of the content described in paragraphs
(1) and (2).
(c) Transparency of Advertising.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and subject to
subsection (g), issue regulations to require platforms to
disclose on an ongoing basis information regarding advertising
on the platform. These regulations shall require platforms to
compile and disclose publicly in a specific section of their
online interface, through a searchable and reliable tool that
allows multicriteria queries and through application
programming interfaces, a repository containing the information
referred to in paragraph (2), for the entire period during
which they present an advertisement and until one year after
the advertisement was presented for the last time on their
online interfaces. Platforms shall ensure that the repository
does not contain any personal data of the recipients of the
service to whom the advertisement was or could have been
presented.
(2) Information required.--The information required to be
included in the repository required under paragraph (1) shall
include at least all of the following information:
(A) The content of the advertisement, including the
name of the product, service or brand and the subject
matter of the advertisement.
(B) The natural or legal person on whose behalf the
advertisement is presented.
(C) The natural or legal person who paid for the
advertisement, if that person is different from the
person referred to in subparagraph (B).
(D) The period during which the advertisement was
presented.
(E) Whether the advertisement was intended to be
presented specifically to one or more particular groups
of recipients of the service and if so, the main
parameters used for that purpose including where
applicable the main parameters used to exclude one or
more of such particular groups.
(F) The total number of recipients of the service
reached and, where applicable, aggregate numbers broken
down by group or groups of recipients that the
advertisement specifically targeted.
(G) Information about the extent to which the
advertisement was recommended, amplified, or restricted
by platform algorithms or policies.
(3) Treatment of removed ads.--The regulations described in
paragraph (1) shall provide guidance regarding disclosure of
ads that are removed by the user or platform subsequent to its
dissemination.
(4) Frequency.--To the extent practicable, the Commission
shall require this information to be updated so as to provide a
real-time understanding of the content described in paragraph
(2).
(d) Transparency of Algorithms and Company Metrics and Data.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after enactment of
this Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with section 553
of title 5, United States Code, and subject to subsection (g),
issue regulations to require platforms to report publicly on
their use of recommender or ranking algorithms and metrics.
(2) Required information.--The reporting required under
paragraph (1) shall be at least semiannual and include, as
appropriate--
(A) a description of all consumer-facing product
features that made use of recommender or ranking
algorithms during the reporting period;
(B) a summary of signals used as inputs to the
described recommender or ranking algorithms, including
an explanation of which rely on user data, an
explanation of the types of user data relied upon, and
ranked based on the significance of their impact on the
algorithms' outputs;
(C) a summary of the processes or predictions used
by the platform to assess the signals incorporated into
the recommender or ranking algorithm and to score or
rank content (such as predictions of future user
engagement), ranked based on the significance of their
impact on the algorithms' outputs;
(D) a summary of the optimization objectives of the
described recommender or ranking algorithms;
(E) a summary of metrics calculated by the platform
to assess product changes or new features, or as a
basis to assess performance or calculate employee or
executive compensation, with an assessment of their
relative importance in company decision making;
(F) significant changes during the reporting period
from the last report; and
(G) other information about the recommender or
ranking algorithms that the Commission deems
appropriate.
(3) Implementation.--In implementing this section, the
Commission shall ensure that the reporting is useful and
actionable while ensuring that platforms are not required to
disclose trade secrets.
(e) Transparency of Content Moderation and Violating Content.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and subject to
subsection (g), issue regulations to require platforms to
report on an ongoing basis information regarding content
moderation and content violating platform policies.
(2) Required information.--The information required to be
disclosed under paragraph (1) shall include, as appropriate--
(A) statistics regarding the amount of content that
the platform determined violated its policies, broken
down by--
(i) the violated policy;
(ii) the action taken in response to the
violation;
(iii) the methods the platform used to
identify the violating content (such as
artificial intelligence, user report, human
moderator review, or other means);
(iv) the extent to which the content was
recommended, amplified, or restricted by
platform algorithms or policies; and
(v) geographic and demographic factors as
the Commission deems appropriate;
(B) statistics regarding the number of times
violating content was viewed by users and the number of
users who viewed it;
(C) estimates by the platform about the prevalence
of violating content (including as measured by the
number of impressions of violating content), broken
down by--
(i) the violated policy;
(ii) geographic and demographic factors;
and
(iii) other factors the Commission deems
appropriate; and
(D) the number of orders received from governmental
authorities, categorized by the type of illegal content
concerned, and the average time needed for taking the
action specified in those orders.
(f) Data Dictionaries.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with section
553 of title 5, United States Code, and subject to subsection (g),
issue regulations to require platforms to disclose, and update
periodically, data dictionaries to inform and facilitate researcher
data access requests. Such data dictionaries shall include descriptions
of significant datasets in the platform's possession relating to
content on, or users of, the platform, enforcement of content policy,
or advertising, as necessary or appropriate to inform and facilitate
researcher data access requests.
(g) Privacy, Confidentiality, and Platform Integrity.--The
Commission shall ensure that any reporting or disclosures required
pursuant to this section do not infringe upon reasonable expectations
of personal privacy of users of platforms or of other persons, or
require dissemination of trade secrets. If necessary, the Commission
may require withholding of information otherwise required to be
disclosed to meet this requirement. The Commission shall further
consider the effect of disclosures on risks to platform integrity or
the susceptibility of the platform to manipulation or inauthentic
behavior, and may limit or reduce the information required to be
disclosed if necessary to address a substantial such risk.
(h) Variation.--In implementing this section, the Commission may
vary the requirements it imposes on platforms based on the size of the
platform and scope of its services.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Engagement.--The term ``engagement'' means, with
respect to content on a platform, the number of times a user
interacts with the content, whether through comments,
indications of approval or disapproval (such as likes or
dislikes), reshares, or any other form of active interaction.
(2) Impression.--The term ``impression'' means, with
respect to content on a platform, the display or delivery of
the content to a user, regardless of whether the user engages
with the content.
(3) Prevalence of violating content.--The term ``prevalence
of violating content'' means a platform's estimate of the
number of impressions of violating content among its users,
regardless of whether the platform ever identifies that
particular content as violating.
(4) Reach.--The term ``reach'' means, with respect to
content on a platform, the number of users to whom the content
is displayed or delivered during a particular period,
regardless of how many times it is delivered to them.
(5) Real-time understanding.--The term ``real-time
understanding'' means an understanding of content on a platform
that is up to date within less than 24 hours.
(6) Reasonably public.--The term ``reasonably public''
means information that the author made available in a manner
and under such circumstances such that the author does not
retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information.
The fact that a user may need to register or create an account
with a platform to view information does not preclude it from
being deemed reasonably public.
(7) Recommender or ranking algorithm.--The term
``recommender or ranking algorithm'' means a fully or partially
automated system used by a platform to suggest in its online
interface specific information to recipients of the service
offered by the platform, or to prioritize that information,
including as a result of a search initiated by the recipient of
the service or otherwise determining the relative order or
prominence of information displayed. This includes any
computational process, including one derived from machine
learning or other artificial intelligence techniques, that
processes personal information or other data for the purpose of
determining the order or manner that a set of information is
provided, recommended to, or withheld from a user of a
platform, including the provision of commercial content, the
display of social media posts, recommendations of user or group
accounts to follow or associate with, or any other method of
content selection, amplification, or restriction.
SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the NSF and the
Commission such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal
year 2022 and each succeeding fiscal year.
SEC. 12. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the
remainder of this Act, and the application of the remaining provisions
of this Act, to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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