Sponsors (4)
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Prohibits executive-branch employees from using their official authority to pressure online platforms to remove, label, or suppress speech that is protected by the U.S. Constitution, while creating transparency and accountability for agency communications with platform providers. It requires regular public reporting of agency-platform contacts, narrows FOIA exemptions for such communications (with limited privacy and warrant exceptions), ends the DHS Disinformation Governance Board if it exists, bans federal grants for misinformation/disinformation programming, and requires grant recipients to certify they will not label news creators as misinformation sources or face repayment and debarment.
Amend Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 606) by striking subsections (c) through (g).
Amend Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 606) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (c).
Amend Section 309(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(h)) by inserting text before a semicolon; the excerpted provision shows the instruction to insert text but does not include the text to be inserted in the provided snippet.
Amend Section 309(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(h)) by striking the phrase "Act;" and all that follows through the period at the end, and inserting new text; the excerpted provision indicates the strike-and-insert action but does not include the replacement text in the provided snippet.
Defines the term "agency" as the meaning given in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
Federal executive agencies will have to change how they communicate with social-media and platform companies: employees and contractors must avoid using official authority to request removals, labels, demotions, or other content interventions except under narrow warrant-based exceptions. Agencies will face recurring reporting duties and public disclosure of communications, increasing administrative workload and exposure to public scrutiny and potential litigation. Platform operators may receive fewer formal takedown or moderation requests from agencies and will see more public records about any contacts they do have. Platform users and news content creators gain additional protections: user identity is shielded from FOIA release without consent, and grant-funded projects are prohibited from labeling creators as misinformation sources. Grant applicants and recipients must add certifications and risk repayment and debarment for violations, altering grant compliance obligations. DHS and CISA operations that previously engaged with platforms for cyber or misinformation concerns will undergo review and possible public disclosure of past actions, which could affect ongoing information-sharing and incident-response practices. Overall, the law strengthens transparency and legal limits on agency influence over online speech but may constrain collaborative public-safety and public-health interventions that previously relied on informal agency–platform coordination.
Strikes subsections (c) through (g) of 47 U.S.C. 606 and redesignates subsection (h) as subsection (c).
Makes technical and conforming amendments to subsection (h) of 47 U.S.C. 309 by inserting specified material and striking and replacing specified language (exact inserted and replacement text not shown in this section).
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced January 22, 2025 by Rand Paul · Last progress January 22, 2025
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced in Senate