An Act providing for social media platforms and for limiting censorship.

PRINTER'S NO. 51
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 62
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY M. BROWN, KAUFFMAN, BANTA, KUZMA AND CIRESI,
JANUARY 14, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY,
JANUARY 14, 2025
AN ACT
Providing for social media platforms and for limiting
censorship.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Social Media
Anti-Censorship Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Acceptable use policy." The acceptable use policy required
under section 4(a).
"Journalist." A person regularly engaged in collecting,
photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or
publishing news, for gain or livelihood, while working as a
salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, a
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newspaper, news journal, news agency, press association, wire
service, radio or television station, network or news magazine.
"Post." To share, display, provide, upload, transmit,
publish, distribute, communicate or circulate content on a
social media platform.
"Social media platform" or "platform." A public or
semipublic Internet-based service or application that has users
in this Commonwealth and that meets all of the following
criteria:
(1) A substantial function of the platform, service or
application is to connect users in order to allow users to
interact socially with each other within the service or
application, provided that a platform, service or application
that provides email or direct messaging services or cloud
computing shall not be considered to meet this criterion
solely on the basis of that function.
(2) The platform, service or application allows users to
do the following:
(i) Construct a public or semipublic profile for
purposes of signing into and using the platform, service
or application.
(ii) Populate a list of other users with whom an
individual shares a social connection within the system.
(iii) Create or post content viewable by other
users, including on message boards, in chat rooms or
through a landing page or main feed that presents the
user with content generated by other users.
(3) The platform, service or application has more than
50,000,000 active users in the United States in a calendar
month.
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"User." A person who posts content on a social media
platform.
Section 3. Applicability.
This act shall apply to a user who:
(1) resides in this Commonwealth;
(2) does business in this Commonwealth; or
(3) posts or receives content on a platform in this
Commonwealth.
Section 4. Acceptable use policy.
(a) Policy required.--Each platform shall develop and
institute an acceptable use policy in accordance with this act.
(b) Publication of policy.--A platform shall publish the
platform's acceptable use policy in a location that is easily
accessible to a user.
(c) Requirements of policy.--A platform's acceptable use
policy shall, at a minimum:
(1) reasonably inform a user about the type of content
that the platform deems violative of its acceptable use
policy;
(2) explain the steps the platform will take to ensure
that content complies with the acceptable use policy;
(3) explain the means by which a user can notify the
platform of content that potentially violates the acceptable
use policy, illegal content or illegal activity; and
(4) reasonably inform a user about the user's right to
appeal the platform's removal of content that allegedly
violates the platform's acceptable use policy in accordance
with section 6.
Section 5. Removal of content.
(a) Notification and appeal.--Except as provided under
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subsection (b), if a platform removes content based on an
alleged violation of the platform's acceptable use policy, the
platform shall:
(1) immediately notify the user who posted the content
of the removal and explain the reason for the removal of the
content from the platform; and
(2) allow the user to appeal the decision to remove the
content from the platform in accordance with section 6.
(b) Exception.--A platform is not required to provide a user
with notice or an opportunity to appeal under section 6 if the
platform knows or reasonably believes that the alleged policy-
violating content relates to an ongoing law enforcement
investigation.
Section 6. Appeal of content removal.
(a) Appeal system.--A platform shall provide an easily
accessible appeal system to enable a user to submit an appeal
regarding the platform's decision to remove alleged policy-
violating content posted by the user on the platform.
(b) Appeal process.--Upon receiving an appeal regarding the
platform's removal of content that the user asserts did not
violate the platform's acceptable use policy, the platform
shall, no later than 14 days after receiving the appeal:
(1) review the content;
(2) determine whether the content adheres to the
platform's acceptable use policy;
(3) take appropriate steps based on the determination
under paragraph (2); and
(4) notify the user regarding the determination made
under paragraph (2) and the steps taken under paragraph (3).
Section 7. Biannual public transparency report.
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(a) Report required.--A platform shall publish a report
every six months that includes, with respect to the preceding
six-month period, the following information:
(1) The total number of instances in which the platform
was alerted to alleged illegal content, illegal activity or
content that violates the platform's acceptable use policy
by:
(i) a user complaint;
(ii) an employee of or person contracting with the
social media platform; or
(iii) an internal automated detection tool.
(2) Subject to subsection (b), the number of instances
in which the platform took any of the following adverse
actions after determining that content was illegal, depicted
illegal activity or violated the platform's acceptable use
policy:
(i) Content removal.
(ii) Content demonetization.
(iii) Content deprioritization.
(iv) Negative categorization or disclaimer of the
content.
(v) Account suspension.
(vi) Account removal.
(vii) Any other action taken in accordance with the
platform's acceptable use policy.
(3) The purported country of residence of the user who
created or posted the content for each instance described
under paragraph (2).
(4) The number of instances in which a user appealed the
decision to remove the user's content that allegedly violated
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the platform's acceptable use policy under section 6.
(5) Of the appeals identified under paragraph (4), the
percentage of appeals that resulted in the restoration of
content.
(6) To the platform's knowledge or belief, the number of
instances in which an adverse action identified under
paragraph (2) was directed at a user who, at the time of
posting the content for which the platform took the adverse
action, was employed or engaged as a:
(i) Federal, state or local politician;
(ii) Federal, state or local political candidate;
(iii) Federal, state or local public official;
(iv) Federal, state or local political organization;
(v) public institution as that term is defined in
section 102 of the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code; or
(vi) journalist.
(b) Categorization of adverse actions.--The information
described under subsection (a)(2) shall be categorized by the:
(1) rule the user violated; and
(2) source for the alert of illegal content, illegal
activity or content that violated the platform's acceptable
use policy, including:
(i) a governmental entity;
(ii) a user;
(iii) an internal automated detection tool; or
(iv) persons employed by or contracting with the
platform.
(c) Governmental entity.--If the source for the alert of
illegal content, illegal activity or alleged policy-violating
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content under subsection (b)(2) was a governmental entity, the
platform shall identify the name of the entity with as much
specificity as possible.
(d) Publication of report.--A platform shall publish the
report required under subsection (a) with an open license, in a
readable and open format and in a location that is easily
accessible to users.
Section 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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