MIR20F73 W9K

116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION

S.L.C.

S. ll

To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the
scope of protection from civil liability for ‘‘good Samaritan’’ blocking
and screening of offensive material.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
llllllllll
Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on llllllllll

A BILL
To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934
to modify the scope of protection from civil liability for
‘‘good Samaritan’’ blocking and screening of offensive
material.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Online Freedom and

5 Viewpoint Diversity Act’’.

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SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM CIVIL LIABILITY FOR ‘‘GOOD

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SAMARITAN’’ BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF

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OFFENSIVE MATERIAL.

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Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

5 U.S.C. 230) is amended—
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(1) in subsection (c)—
(A) in paragraph (1)—
(i) by striking ‘‘No provider’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(A) IN

GENERAL.—No

(ii) by adding at the end the fol-

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lowing:

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‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—

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provider’’; and

‘‘(i) IN

GENERAL.—Subparagraph

(A)

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shall not apply to any decision or agree-

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ment made or action taken by a provider

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or user of an interactive computer service

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to restrict access to or availability of mate-

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rial provided by another information con-

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tent provider.

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‘‘(ii) CIVIL

LIABILITY.—Any

applica-

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ble immunity for a decision or agreement

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made or action taken by a provider or user

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of an interactive computer service de-

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scribed in clause (i) shall be provided solely

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by paragraph (2).’’; and

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(B) in paragraph (2)—

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(i) in subparagraph (A)—

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(I) by striking ‘‘considers to be’’

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and inserting ‘‘has an objectively rea-

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sonable belief is’’; and

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(II) by striking ‘‘or otherwise ob-

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jectionable’’ and inserting ‘‘promoting

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self-harm, promoting terrorism, or un-

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lawful’’; and

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(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking

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‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara-

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graph (A)’’; and

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(2) in subsection (f)(3)—

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(A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting
the following:

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‘‘(A) IN

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(B) by adding at the end the following:

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‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITY.—For purposes of

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subparagraph (A), being responsible in whole or

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in part for the creation or development of infor-

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mation—

GENERAL.—The

term’’; and

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‘‘(i) includes any instance in which a

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person or entity editorializes or affirma-

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tively and substantively modifies the con-

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tent of another person or entity; and

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‘‘(ii) does not include a change to the

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format, layout, or basic appearance of the

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content of another person or entity.’’.