Schakowsky, Castor Introduce Legislation to Hold Online Platforms Accountable
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Chief Deputy Whip and Ranking Member of the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (FL-14), Ranking Member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, reintroduced the Online Consumer Protection Act (OCPA). This legislation addresses the shortcomings of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which, along with overly broad court rulings on it, have failed to hold online platforms accountable to consumers.
“For too long, bad actors have used deceptive techniques on social media platforms to influence consumers. In the past few years alone, we have seen disinformation and misinformation resulting in a rise in hate and extremist violence, distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine, and distrust of our elections. We must hold these companies accountable and ensure that if it is illegal offline, then it is also illegal online. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has enabled Airbnb to avoid responsibility for following local housing laws and it allowed Grindr to avoid accountability for facilitating dangerous harassment of a former user for years,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “The Online Consumer Protection Act, which I am proud to reintroduce with Rep. Castor, balances free speech and safety while placing burdens on platforms, not consumers. Our bill will prevent companies from using Section 230 to shield themselves when they break their promises to consumers. This commonsense piece of legislation will finally help ensure social media companies and online marketplaces enforce the rules they make and be held liable when they fail to do so. The time to act is now.”
"In an increasingly online world, consumers need updated tools to protect them from anti-consumer practices of online platforms. Consumers have the right to know what these companies' policies are, and that the policies will be enforced. The Online Consumer Protection Act will ensure online platforms have clear, transparent terms of service that can be enforced. Consumers deserve peace of mind when operating online, and we must allow the FTC to better protect the pocketbooks of Americans," said Congresswoman Kathy Castor.
Specifically, the Online Consumer Protection Act would:
- Require social media platforms and online marketplaces to establish, disclose, and maintain written terms of service.
- Require social media platforms and online marketplaces to establish a consumer protection program.
- Hold companies accountable when they fail consumers by directing the FTC to issue rules under the APA to implement this Act and allows the FTC to seek civil penalties for violations of this Act.
- Clarify Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to ensure it does not limit liability with respect to violations of this Act.
The bill is endorsed by Public Citizen, Accountable Tech, Fairplay, and Common Sense Media.
“Here’s a common-sense idea: Require Big Tech companies to make specific commitments to consumers about privacy, content moderation and consumer protection. Then require the companies to live up to those commitments – and empower government regulators and affected consumers to hold corporations accountable when they fail to uphold their promises,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “Reps. Schakowsky and Cantor’s Online Consumer Protection Act will, at long last, impose those common-sense standards on Big Tech has companies and alleviate the rampant abuses that social media and online marketplace corporations have inflicted on consumers.”
“Big Tech companies operate with little accountability, hiding behind empty promises, deflecting scrutiny and taking zero responsibility for the societal harms they cause. The Online Consumer Protection Act would ensure they no longer get away with failing to enforce their own terms of service by establishing clear guidelines for companies to ensure they are in compliance, giving consumers clear and easy-to-understand language, and also giving the FTC and state attorneys general greater authority to enforce the law. This legislation is a step in the right direction to rein in online platforms that have been, for too long, allowed to engage in harmful business practices,” said Nicole Gill, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Accountable Tech.
"The Online Consumer Protection Act is an important step toward creating a better online world. The bill would require platforms to be honest with their users and hold companies accountable who break their promises. The bill also makes clear that Section 230 is not a blanket get-out-of-jail card for tech platforms to do whatever they please in their design and operation. We applaud Rep. Schakowsky and Rep. Castor for introducing this important legislation,” said Josh Golin, Executive Director of Fairplay.
This is a very important bill to begin to hold social media and other online platforms accountable. We need greater transparency and more guardrails to better protect consumers online. Reps. Schakowsky and Rep. Castor are to be applauded for continuing to push this issue in Congress on behalf of the American people," said James P. Steyer, Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media.
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