| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2889 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To clarify that a violation of certain terms of service and related materials |
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| 6 | 6 | | is an unfair or deceptive act or practice and subject to enforcement |
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| 7 | 7 | | by the Federal Trade Commission. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | APRIL10, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Ms. S |
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| 11 | 11 | | CHAKOWSKY(for herself and Ms. CASTORof Florida) introduced the |
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| 12 | 12 | | following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To clarify that a violation of certain terms of service and |
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| 15 | 15 | | related materials is an unfair or deceptive act or practice |
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| 16 | 16 | | and subject to enforcement by the Federal Trade Com- |
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| 17 | 17 | | mission. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Online Consumer Pro-4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | tection Act’’. 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. TERMS OF SERVICE REQUIRED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA 1 |
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| 27 | 27 | | PLATFORMS AND ONLINE MARKETPLACES. 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (a) I |
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| 29 | 29 | | NGENERAL.—Each social media platform or on-3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | line marketplace shall establish, maintain, and make pub-4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | licly available at all times and in a machine-readable for-5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | mat, terms of service in a manner that is clear, easily un-6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | derstood, and written in plain and concise language. The 7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | terms of service shall meet the following requirements: 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) The terms of service shall include— 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (A) any terms or conditions of use of any 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | service provided by such person to a consumer; 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (B) any policies of such person with regard 12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | to such service or use of such service by a con-13 |
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| 40 | 40 | | sumer; and 14 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (C) the consumer protection policy con-15 |
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| 42 | 42 | | sistent with subsection (b). 16 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (2) The terms of service shall cover issues re-17 |
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| 44 | 44 | | lated to the behavior of a service or a user of such 18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | service, and shall at a minimum include terms of use 19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | related to— 20 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (A) payment methods; 21 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (B) content ownership, including content 22 |
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| 49 | 49 | | generated by a user; 23 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (C) policies related to sharing user content 24 |
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| 51 | 51 | | with third parties; 25 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 54 | 54 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 55 | 55 | | (D) any disclaimers, limitations, notices of 1 |
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| 56 | 56 | | nonliability, or the consequences of not agreeing 2 |
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| 57 | 57 | | to or complying with the terms of service; and 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (E) any other topic the Commission deems 4 |
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| 59 | 59 | | appropriate. 5 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (b) R |
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| 61 | 61 | | EQUIREDCONSUMERPROTECTIONPOLICY.— 6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (1) F |
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| 63 | 63 | | OR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS .—For so-7 |
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| 64 | 64 | | cial media platforms, the consumer protection policy 8 |
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| 65 | 65 | | required by subsection (a) shall include— 9 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (A) a description of the content and behav-10 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ior permitted or prohibited on its service both 11 |
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| 68 | 68 | | by the platform and by users; 12 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (B) whether content may be blocked, re-13 |
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| 70 | 70 | | moved, or modified, or if service to users may 14 |
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| 71 | 71 | | be terminated and the grounds upon which such 15 |
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| 72 | 72 | | actions will be taken; 16 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (C) whether a person can request that con-17 |
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| 74 | 74 | | tent be blocked, removed, or modified, or that 18 |
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| 75 | 75 | | a user’s service be terminated, and how to make 19 |
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| 76 | 76 | | such a request; 20 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (D) a description of how a user will be no-21 |
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| 78 | 78 | | tified of and can respond to a request that his 22 |
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| 79 | 79 | | or her content be blocked, removed, or modified, 23 |
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| 80 | 80 | | or service be terminated, if such actions are 24 |
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| 81 | 81 | | taken; 25 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 85 | 85 | | (E) whether a user who requested content 1 |
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| 86 | 86 | | be blocked, removed, or modified will be notified 2 |
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| 87 | 87 | | of whether action was taken as a result of the 3 |
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| 88 | 88 | | request, the action that was taken, the reason 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | why action was taken or not taken, and how the 5 |
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| 90 | 90 | | user will be notified; 6 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (F) how a person can appeal a decision to 7 |
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| 92 | 92 | | block, remove, or modify content, allow content 8 |
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| 93 | 93 | | to remain, or terminate or not terminate service 9 |
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| 94 | 94 | | to a user, if such actions are taken; 10 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (G) a description of how a user will be no-11 |
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| 96 | 96 | | tified of the result of the appeal; 12 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (H) a description of the tools and support 13 |
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| 98 | 98 | | available to users who have experienced cyber 14 |
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| 99 | 99 | | harassment; and 15 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (I) any other topic the Commission deems 16 |
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| 101 | 101 | | appropriate. 17 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (2) F |
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| 103 | 103 | | OR ONLINE MARKETPLACES .—For online 18 |
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| 104 | 104 | | marketplaces, the consumer protection policy re-19 |
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| 105 | 105 | | quired by subsection (a) shall include— 20 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (A) a description of the products, product 21 |
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| 107 | 107 | | descriptions, and marketing material, allowed or 22 |
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| 108 | 108 | | disallowed on the marketplace; 23 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (B) whether a product, product descrip-24 |
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| 110 | 110 | | tions, and marketing material may be blocked, 25 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 113 | 113 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 114 | 114 | | removed, or modified, or if service to a user 1 |
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| 115 | 115 | | may be terminated and the grounds upon which 2 |
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| 116 | 116 | | such actions will be taken; 3 |
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| 117 | 117 | | (C) whether users will be notified of prod-4 |
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| 118 | 118 | | ucts that have been recalled or are dangerous, 5 |
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| 119 | 119 | | and how they will be notified; 6 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (D) for users— 7 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (i) whether a user can report sus-8 |
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| 122 | 122 | | pected fraud, deception, dangerous prod-9 |
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| 123 | 123 | | ucts, or violations of the online market-10 |
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| 124 | 124 | | place’s terms of service, and how to make 11 |
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| 125 | 125 | | such report; 12 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (ii) whether a user who submitted a 13 |
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| 127 | 127 | | report will be notified of whether action 14 |
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| 128 | 128 | | was taken as a result of the report, the ac-15 |
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| 129 | 129 | | tion that was taken and the reason why ac-16 |
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| 130 | 130 | | tion was taken or not taken, and how the 17 |
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| 131 | 131 | | user will be notified; 18 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (iii) how to appeal the result of a re-19 |
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| 133 | 133 | | port; 20 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (iv) whether a user who appealed the 21 |
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| 135 | 135 | | result of a report will be notified of wheth-22 |
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| 136 | 136 | | er action was taken as a result of the ap-23 |
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| 137 | 137 | | peal, the action that was taken, the reason 24 |
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| 140 | 140 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 141 | 141 | | why action was taken or not taken, and 1 |
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| 142 | 142 | | how the user will be notified; and 2 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (v) under what circumstances a user 3 |
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| 144 | 144 | | is entitled to refund, repair, or other rem-4 |
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| 145 | 145 | | edy and the remedy to which the user may 5 |
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| 146 | 146 | | be entitled, how the user will be notified of 6 |
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| 147 | 147 | | such entitlement, and how the user may 7 |
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| 148 | 148 | | claim such remedy; and 8 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (E) for sellers— 9 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (i) how sellers are notified of a report 10 |
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| 151 | 151 | | by a user or a violation of the terms of 11 |
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| 152 | 152 | | service or consumer protection policy; 12 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (ii) how to contest a report by a user; 13 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (iii) how a seller who is the subject of 14 |
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| 155 | 155 | | a report will be notified of what action will 15 |
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| 156 | 156 | | be or must be taken as a result of the re-16 |
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| 157 | 157 | | port and the justification for such action; 17 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (iv) how to appeal a decision of the 18 |
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| 159 | 159 | | online marketplace to take an action in re-19 |
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| 160 | 160 | | sponse to a user report or for a violation 20 |
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| 161 | 161 | | of the terms of service or consumer protec-21 |
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| 162 | 162 | | tion policy; and 22 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (v) the policy regarding refunds, re-23 |
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| 164 | 164 | | pairs, replacements, or other remedies as a 24 |
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| 165 | 165 | | result of a user report or a violation of the 25 |
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| 168 | 168 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 169 | 169 | | terms of service or consumer protection 1 |
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| 170 | 170 | | policy. 2 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (c) S |
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| 172 | 172 | | TANDARDSHORT-FORMSTATEMENTS AND 3 |
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| 173 | 173 | | G |
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| 174 | 174 | | RAPHICICONS FOR CONSUMERPROTECTIONPRAC-4 |
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| 175 | 175 | | TICES.— 5 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (1) S |
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| 177 | 177 | | TUDY AND REPORT .—Not later than 180 6 |
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| 178 | 178 | | days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 7 |
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| 179 | 179 | | Commission shall conduct a study to determine the 8 |
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| 180 | 180 | | most effective method of communicating common 9 |
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| 181 | 181 | | consumer protection practices in short-form con-10 |
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| 182 | 182 | | sumer disclosure statements or graphic icons that 11 |
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| 183 | 183 | | disclose the consumer protection and content mod-12 |
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| 184 | 184 | | eration practices of social media platforms and on-13 |
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| 185 | 185 | | line marketplaces. The Commission shall submit a 14 |
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| 186 | 186 | | report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 15 |
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| 187 | 187 | | of the House of Representatives and the Committee 16 |
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| 188 | 188 | | on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 17 |
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| 189 | 189 | | Senate with the results of the study. The report 18 |
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| 190 | 190 | | shall also be made publicly available on the website 19 |
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| 191 | 191 | | of the Commission. 20 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (2) R |
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| 193 | 193 | | EGULATIONS.—Except as provided in 21 |
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| 194 | 194 | | paragraph (3), after completion of the study and not 22 |
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| 195 | 195 | | later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 23 |
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| 196 | 196 | | this Act, the Commission shall finalize regulations 24 |
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| 197 | 197 | | based on the results of such study that require social 25 |
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| 199 | 199 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
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| 200 | 200 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 201 | 201 | | media platforms and online marketplaces to commu-1 |
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| 202 | 202 | | nicate their consumer protection and content mod-2 |
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| 203 | 203 | | eration practices, and any other information as the 3 |
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| 204 | 204 | | Commission may determine, in a clear and con-4 |
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| 205 | 205 | | spicuous manner. 5 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (3) E |
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| 207 | 207 | | XCEPTION.—If the Commission deter-6 |
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| 208 | 208 | | mines, by a majority vote of the Commissioners, that 7 |
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| 209 | 209 | | short-form consumer disclosure statements or graph-8 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ic icons will not advance consumer understanding of 9 |
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| 211 | 211 | | consumer protection and content moderation prac-10 |
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| 212 | 212 | | tices of social media platforms and online market-11 |
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| 213 | 213 | | places, the Commission shall include its reasoning 12 |
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| 214 | 214 | | for making that determination in the report to Con-13 |
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| 215 | 215 | | gress required by paragraph (1) and shall not final-14 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ize the rulemaking until it determines such rules 15 |
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| 217 | 217 | | would advance consumer understanding of consumer 16 |
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| 218 | 218 | | protection and content moderation practices of social 17 |
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| 219 | 219 | | media platforms and online marketplaces. 18 |
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| 220 | 220 | | SEC. 3. CONSUMER PROTECTION PROGRAM. 19 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (a) I |
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| 222 | 222 | | NGENERAL.—Each social media platform and 20 |
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| 223 | 223 | | online marketplace shall establish and implement a con-21 |
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| 224 | 224 | | sumer protection program that includes policies, practices, 22 |
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| 225 | 225 | | and procedures regarding consumer protection and con-23 |
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| 226 | 226 | | tent moderation— 24 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (1) to— 25 |
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| 229 | 229 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
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| 230 | 230 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 231 | 231 | | (A) ensure compliance with applicable Fed-1 |
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| 232 | 232 | | eral, State, and local consumer protection laws; 2 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (B) develop, implement, and ensure com-3 |
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| 234 | 234 | | pliance with the terms of service required by 4 |
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| 235 | 235 | | section 2; 5 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (C) develop and implement policies regard-6 |
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| 237 | 237 | | ing the content and behavior permitted on its 7 |
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| 238 | 238 | | service both by the platform and users, and en-8 |
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| 239 | 239 | | sure compliance with such policies, practices 9 |
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| 240 | 240 | | and procedures; 10 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (D) mitigate risks that could be harmful to 11 |
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| 242 | 242 | | consumers’ safety, well-being, and reasonable 12 |
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| 243 | 243 | | expectations of users of the social media plat-13 |
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| 244 | 244 | | form or online marketplace, including cyber 14 |
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| 245 | 245 | | harassment; 15 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (E) implement reasonable safeguards with-16 |
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| 247 | 247 | | in, and training and education of employees and 17 |
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| 248 | 248 | | contractors of, the social media platform or on-18 |
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| 249 | 249 | | line marketplace to promote compliance with all 19 |
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| 250 | 250 | | consumer protection laws and the consumer 20 |
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| 251 | 251 | | protection program; and 21 |
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| 252 | 252 | | (F) disclose any other requirement the 22 |
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| 253 | 253 | | Commission deems appropriate; and 23 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (2) taking into consideration— 24 |
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| 257 | 257 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 258 | 258 | | (A) the size of, and the nature, scope, and 1 |
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| 259 | 259 | | complexity of the activities engaged in by the 2 |
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| 260 | 260 | | social media platform and online marketplace; 3 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (B) the activities engaged in by users on 4 |
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| 262 | 262 | | the social media platform or online market-5 |
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| 263 | 263 | | place; and 6 |
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| 264 | 264 | | (C) the cost of implementing the program. 7 |
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| 265 | 265 | | (b) A |
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| 266 | 266 | | DDITIONALREQUIREMENTS.—As part of the 8 |
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| 267 | 267 | | consumer protection program, a social media platform or 9 |
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| 268 | 268 | | online marketplace shall— 10 |
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| 269 | 269 | | (1) establish processes to monitor, manage, and 11 |
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| 270 | 270 | | enforce the social media platform’s or online market-12 |
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| 271 | 271 | | place’s consumer protection program, and dem-13 |
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| 272 | 272 | | onstrate the covered entity’s compliance with Fed-14 |
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| 273 | 273 | | eral, State, and local consumer protection laws; 15 |
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| 274 | 274 | | (2) establish processes to assess and mitigate 16 |
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| 275 | 275 | | the risks to individuals resulting from the social 17 |
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| 276 | 276 | | media platform’s or online marketplace’s amplifi-18 |
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| 277 | 277 | | cation of content or products not in compliance with 19 |
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| 278 | 278 | | its terms of service; 20 |
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| 279 | 279 | | (3) establish a process to periodically review 21 |
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| 280 | 280 | | and update the consumer protection program; 22 |
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| 281 | 281 | | (4) appoint a consumer protection officer, who 23 |
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| 282 | 282 | | reports directly to the chief executive officer; and 24 |
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| 285 | 285 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 286 | 286 | | (5) establish and implement controls to monitor 1 |
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| 287 | 287 | | and mitigate known or reasonably foreseeable risks 2 |
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| 288 | 288 | | to consumers resulting from hosting content or prod-3 |
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| 289 | 289 | | ucts. 4 |
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| 290 | 290 | | (c) A |
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| 291 | 291 | | NNUALFILINGS TO THEFTC.— 5 |
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| 292 | 292 | | (1) F |
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| 293 | 293 | | ILING REQUIREMENTS .—Each social 6 |
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| 294 | 294 | | media platform or online marketplace that either has 7 |
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| 295 | 295 | | annual revenue in excess of $250,000 in the prior 8 |
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| 296 | 296 | | year or that has more than 10,000 monthly active 9 |
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| 297 | 297 | | users on average in the prior year, shall be required 10 |
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| 298 | 298 | | to submit to the Commission, on an annual basis, a 11 |
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| 299 | 299 | | filing that includes— 12 |
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| 300 | 300 | | (A) a detailed and granular description of 13 |
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| 301 | 301 | | each of the requirements in section 2 and this 14 |
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| 302 | 302 | | section; 15 |
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| 303 | 303 | | (B) the name and contact information of 16 |
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| 304 | 304 | | the consumer protection officer required under 17 |
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| 305 | 305 | | subsection (b)(4); and 18 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (C) a description of any material changes 19 |
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| 307 | 307 | | in the consumer protection program or the 20 |
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| 308 | 308 | | terms of service since the most recent prior dis-21 |
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| 309 | 309 | | closure to the Commission. 22 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (2) O |
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| 311 | 311 | | FFICER CERTIFICATION.—For each entity 23 |
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| 312 | 312 | | that submits an annual filing under paragraph (1), 24 |
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| 313 | 313 | | the entity’s principal executive officer and the con-25 |
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| 316 | 316 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 317 | 317 | | sumer protection officer required under subsection 1 |
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| 318 | 318 | | (b)(4), shall be required to certify in each such an-2 |
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| 319 | 319 | | nual filing that— 3 |
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| 320 | 320 | | (A) the signing officer has reviewed the fil-4 |
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| 321 | 321 | | ing; 5 |
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| 322 | 322 | | (B) based on such officer’s knowledge, the 6 |
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| 323 | 323 | | filing does not contain any untrue statement of 7 |
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| 324 | 324 | | a material fact or omit to state a material fact 8 |
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| 325 | 325 | | necessary to make the statements, in light of 9 |
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| 326 | 326 | | the circumstances under which such statements 10 |
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| 327 | 327 | | were made, not misleading; 11 |
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| 328 | 328 | | (C) based on such officer’s knowledge, the 12 |
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| 329 | 329 | | filing fairly presents in all material respects the 13 |
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| 330 | 330 | | consumer protection practices of the social 14 |
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| 331 | 331 | | media platform or online marketplace; and 15 |
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| 332 | 332 | | (D) the signing consumer protection offi-16 |
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| 333 | 333 | | cer— 17 |
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| 334 | 334 | | (i) is responsible for establishing and 18 |
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| 335 | 335 | | maintaining safeguards and controls to 19 |
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| 336 | 336 | | protect consumers and administer the con-20 |
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| 337 | 337 | | sumer protection program; and 21 |
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| 338 | 338 | | (ii) has provided all material conclu-22 |
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| 339 | 339 | | sions about the effectiveness of such safe-23 |
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| 340 | 340 | | guards and controls. 24 |
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| 343 | 343 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 344 | 344 | | (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission 1 |
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| 345 | 345 | | shall make publicly available on the website of the 2 |
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| 346 | 346 | | Commission the filings submitted under paragraph 3 |
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| 347 | 347 | | (1). The Commission may withhold information in-4 |
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| 348 | 348 | | cluded in such a filing if the Commission determines 5 |
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| 349 | 349 | | such information should not be public. If the Com-6 |
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| 350 | 350 | | mission withholds any information, the Commission 7 |
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| 351 | 351 | | shall make publicly available on the website the cat-8 |
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| 352 | 352 | | egory of information withheld and the reasons for 9 |
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| 353 | 353 | | withholding it. 10 |
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| 354 | 354 | | SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 11 |
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| 355 | 355 | | (a) E |
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| 356 | 356 | | NFORCEMENT BY FEDERALTRADECOMMIS-12 |
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| 357 | 357 | | SION.— 13 |
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| 358 | 358 | | (1) U |
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| 359 | 359 | | NFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC -14 |
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| 360 | 360 | | TICES.—Any violation of this Act shall be treated as 15 |
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| 361 | 361 | | a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) 16 |
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| 362 | 362 | | of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 17 |
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| 363 | 363 | | 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or 18 |
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| 364 | 364 | | practices. 19 |
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| 365 | 365 | | (2) P |
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| 366 | 366 | | OWERS OF COMMISSION .—The Commis-20 |
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| 367 | 367 | | sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by 21 |
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| 368 | 368 | | the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 22 |
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| 369 | 369 | | powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 23 |
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| 370 | 370 | | and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 24 |
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| 371 | 371 | | (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 25 |
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| 375 | 375 | | made a part of this Act. Any person who violates 1 |
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| 376 | 376 | | this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled 2 |
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| 377 | 377 | | to the privileges and immunities provided in the 3 |
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| 378 | 378 | | Federal Trade Commission Act. 4 |
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| 379 | 379 | | (b) R |
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| 380 | 380 | | EGULATIONS.—The Commission shall promul-5 |
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| 381 | 381 | | gate regulations under section 553 of title 5, United 6 |
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| 382 | 382 | | States Code, to carry out the purposes of this Act. 7 |
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| 383 | 383 | | (c) P |
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| 384 | 384 | | RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.— 8 |
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| 385 | 385 | | (1) E |
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| 386 | 386 | | NFORCEMENT BY INDIVIDUALS .— 9 |
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| 387 | 387 | | (A) I |
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| 388 | 388 | | N GENERAL.—An individual alleging 10 |
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| 389 | 389 | | damages as a result of a violation of this Act 11 |
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| 390 | 390 | | may bring a civil action in any court of com-12 |
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| 391 | 391 | | petent jurisdiction, State or Federal. 13 |
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| 392 | 392 | | (B) R |
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| 393 | 393 | | ELIEF.—In a civil action brought 14 |
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| 394 | 394 | | under subparagraph (A) in which the plaintiff 15 |
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| 395 | 395 | | prevails, the court may award— 16 |
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| 396 | 396 | | (i) damages as provided in subpara-17 |
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| 397 | 397 | | graph (C); 18 |
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| 398 | 398 | | (ii) reasonable attorney’s fees and liti-19 |
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| 399 | 399 | | gation costs; and 20 |
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| 400 | 400 | | (iii) any other relief, including equi-21 |
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| 401 | 401 | | table or declaratory relief, that the court 22 |
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| 402 | 402 | | determines appropriate. 23 |
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| 406 | 406 | | (C) DAMAGES.—A prevailing plaintiff is 1 |
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| 407 | 407 | | entitled to actual damages as a result of the 2 |
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| 408 | 408 | | violation of this Act. 3 |
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| 409 | 409 | | (2) I |
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| 410 | 410 | | NVALIDITY OF PRE-DISPUTE ARBITRATION 4 |
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| 411 | 411 | | AGREEMENTS AND PRE -DISPUTE JOINT-ACTION 5 |
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| 412 | 412 | | WAIVERS.— 6 |
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| 413 | 413 | | (A) I |
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| 414 | 414 | | N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 7 |
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| 415 | 415 | | other provision of law, no pre-dispute arbitra-8 |
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| 416 | 416 | | tion agreement or pre-dispute joint-action waiv-9 |
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| 417 | 417 | | er shall be valid or enforceable with respect to 10 |
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| 418 | 418 | | a dispute arising under this Act. 11 |
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| 419 | 419 | | (B) A |
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| 420 | 420 | | PPLICABILITY.—Any determination 12 |
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| 421 | 421 | | as to whether or how this paragraph applies to 13 |
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| 422 | 422 | | any dispute shall be made by a court, rather 14 |
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| 423 | 423 | | than an arbitrator, without regard to whether 15 |
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| 424 | 424 | | such agreement purports to delegate such deter-16 |
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| 425 | 425 | | mination to an arbitrator. 17 |
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| 426 | 426 | | (C) D |
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| 427 | 427 | | EFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 18 |
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| 428 | 428 | | (i) P |
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| 429 | 429 | | RE-DISPUTE ARBITRATION 19 |
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| 430 | 430 | | AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘pre-dispute arbi-20 |
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| 431 | 431 | | tration agreement’’ means any agreement 21 |
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| 432 | 432 | | to arbitrate a dispute that has not arisen 22 |
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| 433 | 433 | | at the time of making the agreement. 23 |
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| 434 | 434 | | (ii) P |
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| 435 | 435 | | RE-DISPUTE JOINT -ACTION 24 |
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| 436 | 436 | | WAIVER.—The term ‘‘pre-dispute joint-ac-25 |
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| 439 | 439 | | •HR 2889 IH |
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| 440 | 440 | | tion waiver’’ means an agreement, whether 1 |
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| 441 | 441 | | or not part of a pre-dispute arbitration 2 |
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| 442 | 442 | | agreement, that would prohibit, or waive 3 |
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| 443 | 443 | | the right of, one of the parties to the 4 |
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| 444 | 444 | | agreement to participate in a joint, class, 5 |
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| 445 | 445 | | or collective action in a judicial, arbitral, 6 |
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| 446 | 446 | | administration, or other forum, concerning 7 |
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| 447 | 447 | | a dispute that has not yet arisen at the 8 |
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| 448 | 448 | | time of making the agreement. 9 |
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| 449 | 449 | | (iii) D |
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| 450 | 450 | | ISPUTE.—The term ‘‘dispute’’ 10 |
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| 451 | 451 | | means any claim related to an alleged vio-11 |
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| 452 | 452 | | lation of this Act and between an indi-12 |
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| 453 | 453 | | vidual and a covered organization. 13 |
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| 454 | 454 | | (d) E |
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| 455 | 455 | | NFORCEMENT BY STATEATTORNEYSGEN-14 |
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| 456 | 456 | | ERAL.— 15 |
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| 457 | 457 | | (1) I |
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| 458 | 458 | | N GENERAL.—If the chief law enforcement 16 |
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| 459 | 459 | | officer of a State, or an official or agency designated 17 |
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| 460 | 460 | | by a State, has reason to believe that any person has 18 |
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| 461 | 461 | | violated or is violating this Act, the attorney general, 19 |
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| 462 | 462 | | official, or agency of the State, in addition to any 20 |
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| 463 | 463 | | authority it may have to bring an action in State 21 |
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| 464 | 464 | | court under its consumer protection law, may bring 22 |
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| 465 | 465 | | a civil action in any appropriate United States dis-23 |
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| 466 | 466 | | trict court or in any other court of competent juris-24 |
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| 467 | 467 | | diction, including a State court, to— 25 |
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| 471 | 471 | | (A) enjoin further such violation by such 1 |
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| 472 | 472 | | person; 2 |
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| 473 | 473 | | (B) enforce compliance with this Act; 3 |
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| 474 | 474 | | (C) obtain civil penalties; and 4 |
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| 475 | 475 | | (D) obtain damages, restitution, or other 5 |
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| 476 | 476 | | compensation on behalf of residents of the 6 |
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| 477 | 477 | | State. 7 |
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| 478 | 478 | | (2) N |
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| 479 | 479 | | OTICE AND INTERVENTION BY THE 8 |
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| 480 | 480 | | FTC.—The attorney general of a State shall provide 9 |
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| 481 | 481 | | prior written notice of any action under paragraph 10 |
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| 482 | 482 | | (1) to the Commission and provide the Commission 11 |
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| 483 | 483 | | with a copy of the complaint in the action, except in 12 |
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| 484 | 484 | | any case in which such prior notice is not feasible, 13 |
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| 485 | 485 | | in which case the attorney general shall serve such 14 |
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| 486 | 486 | | notice immediately upon instituting such action. The 15 |
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| 487 | 487 | | Commission shall have the right— 16 |
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| 488 | 488 | | (A) to intervene in the action; 17 |
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| 489 | 489 | | (B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all 18 |
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| 490 | 490 | | matters arising therein; and 19 |
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| 491 | 491 | | (C) to file petitions for appeal. 20 |
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| 492 | 492 | | (3) L |
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| 493 | 493 | | IMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FED -21 |
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| 494 | 494 | | ERAL ACTION IS PENDING .—If the Commission has 22 |
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| 495 | 495 | | instituted a civil action for violation of this Act, no 23 |
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| 496 | 496 | | State attorney general, or official or agency of a 24 |
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| 497 | 497 | | State, may bring an action under this subsection 25 |
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| 501 | 501 | | during the pendency of that action against any de-1 |
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| 502 | 502 | | fendant named in the complaint of the Commission 2 |
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| 503 | 503 | | for any violation of this Act alleged in the complaint. 3 |
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| 504 | 504 | | (4) R |
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| 505 | 505 | | ELATIONSHIP WITH STATE -LAW CLAIMS.— 4 |
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| 506 | 506 | | If the attorney general of a State has authority to 5 |
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| 507 | 507 | | bring an action under State law directed at acts or 6 |
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| 508 | 508 | | practices that also violate this Act, the attorney gen-7 |
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| 509 | 509 | | eral may assert the State-law claim and a claim 8 |
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| 510 | 510 | | under this Act in the same civil action. 9 |
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| 511 | 511 | | SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 10 |
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| 512 | 512 | | (a) E |
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| 513 | 513 | | FFECT OFOTHERLAWS.—Section 230 of the 11 |
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| 514 | 514 | | Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) shall not 12 |
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| 515 | 515 | | apply to any violation of this Act. 13 |
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| 516 | 516 | | (b) E |
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| 517 | 517 | | FFECT ONSTATELAWS.—Nothing in this Act 14 |
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| 518 | 518 | | or any regulation promulgated under this Act shall pre-15 |
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| 519 | 519 | | empt or otherwise affect any State or local law. 16 |
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| 520 | 520 | | (c) S |
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| 521 | 521 | | EVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 17 |
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| 522 | 522 | | the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is 18 |
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| 523 | 523 | | held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application 19 |
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| 524 | 524 | | of such provision to other persons not similarly situated 20 |
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| 525 | 525 | | or to other circumstances shall not be affected by the in-21 |
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| 526 | 526 | | validation. 22 |
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| 530 | 530 | | SEC. 6. FTC ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY. 1 |
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| 531 | 531 | | (a) I |
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| 532 | 532 | | NGENERAL.—Section 230(e) of the Commu-2 |
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| 533 | 533 | | nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by 3 |
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| 534 | 534 | | adding at the end the following: 4 |
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| 535 | 535 | | ‘‘(6) N |
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| 536 | 536 | | O EFFECT ON FTC ENFORCEMENT .— 5 |
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| 537 | 537 | | Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair 6 |
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| 538 | 538 | | the enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission 7 |
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| 539 | 539 | | of any provision of law enforced by the Federal 8 |
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| 540 | 540 | | Trade Commission.’’. 9 |
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| 541 | 541 | | (b) A |
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| 542 | 542 | | PPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 10 |
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| 543 | 543 | | section shall apply with respect to any action or pro-11 |
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| 544 | 544 | | ceeding that is commenced on or after the date of the en-12 |
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| 545 | 545 | | actment of this Act. 13 |
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| 546 | 546 | | SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 14 |
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| 547 | 547 | | As used in this Act, the following definitions apply: 15 |
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| 548 | 548 | | (1) C |
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| 549 | 549 | | OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 16 |
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| 550 | 550 | | means the Federal Trade Commission. 17 |
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| 551 | 551 | | (2) C |
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| 552 | 552 | | ONSUMER PRODUCT .—The term ‘‘con-18 |
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| 553 | 553 | | sumer product’’ has the meaning given such term in 19 |
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| 554 | 554 | | section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 20 |
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| 555 | 555 | | (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)). 21 |
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| 556 | 556 | | (3) C |
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| 557 | 557 | | YBER HARASSMENT .—The term ‘‘cyber 22 |
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| 558 | 558 | | harassment’’ means electronic communication that 23 |
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| 559 | 559 | | harasses, torments, threatens, or terrorizes a target. 24 |
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| 563 | 563 | | (4) ONLINE MARKETPLACE .—The term ‘‘online 1 |
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| 564 | 564 | | marketplace’’ means a website or web application, 2 |
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| 565 | 565 | | that— 3 |
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| 566 | 566 | | (A) includes features that allow for, facili-4 |
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| 567 | 567 | | tate, or enable third-party sellers to engage in 5 |
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| 568 | 568 | | the sale, purchase, payment, storage, shipping, 6 |
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| 569 | 569 | | or delivery of a consumer product in the United 7 |
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| 570 | 570 | | States; and 8 |
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| 571 | 571 | | (B) hosts one or more third-party sellers. 9 |
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| 572 | 572 | | (5) S |
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| 573 | 573 | | ELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ means a per-10 |
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| 574 | 574 | | son or entity that sells, offers to sell, or contracts to 11 |
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| 575 | 575 | | sell a consumer product through an online market-12 |
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| 576 | 576 | | place’s platform. 13 |
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| 577 | 577 | | (6) S |
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| 578 | 578 | | OCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM .—The term ‘‘so-14 |
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| 579 | 579 | | cial media platform’’ means a website or mobile web 15 |
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| 580 | 580 | | application that— 16 |
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| 581 | 581 | | (A) permits a person to become a reg-17 |
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| 582 | 582 | | istered user, establish an account, or create a 18 |
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| 583 | 583 | | profile for the purpose of allowing the user to 19 |
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| 584 | 584 | | create, share, and view user-generated content 20 |
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| 585 | 585 | | through such an account or profile; 21 |
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| 586 | 586 | | (B) enables one or more users to generate 22 |
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| 587 | 587 | | content that can be viewed by other users of the 23 |
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| 588 | 588 | | platform; and 24 |
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| 592 | 592 | | (C) primarily serves as a medium for users 1 |
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| 593 | 593 | | to interact with content generated by other 2 |
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| 594 | 594 | | users of the medium and for the platform to de-3 |
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| 595 | 595 | | liver ads to users. 4 |
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| 596 | 596 | | (7) U |
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| 597 | 597 | | SER.—The term ‘‘user’’ means a person 5 |
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| 598 | 598 | | or entity that uses a social media platform or online 6 |
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| 599 | 599 | | marketplace for any purpose, including advertisers 7 |
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| 600 | 600 | | and sellers, regardless of whether that person has an 8 |
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| 601 | 601 | | account or is otherwise registered with the platform. 9 |
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| 602 | 602 | | Æ |
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