HB 62 — 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
 1   Providing for social media platforms and for limiting
 2      censorship.
 3      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 4   hereby enacts as follows:
 5   Section 1.   Short title.
 6      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Social Media
 7   Anti-Censorship Act.
 8   Section 2.   Definitions.
 9      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11   context clearly indicates otherwise:
12      "Acceptable use policy."   The acceptable use policy required
13   under section 4(a).
14      "Journalist."   A person regularly engaged in collecting,
15   photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or
16   publishing news, for gain or livelihood, while working as a
17   salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, a
 1   newspaper, news journal, news agency, press association, wire
 2   service, radio or television station, network or news magazine.
 3      "Post."   To share, display, provide, upload, transmit,
 4   publish, distribute, communicate or circulate content on a
 5   social media platform.
 6      "Social media platform" or "platform."     A public or
 7   semipublic Internet-based service or application that has users
 8   in this Commonwealth and that meets all of the following
 9   criteria:
10          (1)   A substantial function of the platform, service or
11      application is to connect users in order to allow users to
12      interact socially with each other within the service or
13      application, provided that a platform, service or application
14      that provides email or direct messaging services or cloud
15      computing shall not be considered to meet this criterion
16      solely on the basis of that function.
17          (2)   The platform, service or application allows users to
18      do the following:
19                (i)    Construct a public or semipublic profile for
20          purposes of signing into and using the platform, service
21          or application.
22                (ii)    Populate a list of other users with whom an
23          individual shares a social connection within the system.
24                (iii)    Create or post content viewable by other
25          users, including on message boards, in chat rooms or
26          through a landing page or main feed that presents the
27          user with content generated by other users.
28          (3)   The platform, service or application has more than
29      50,000,000 active users in the United States in a calendar
30      month.

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 1      "User."     A person who posts content on a social media
 2   platform.
 3   Section 3.     Applicability.
 4      This act shall apply to a user who:
 5            (1)   resides in this Commonwealth;
 6            (2)   does business in this Commonwealth; or
 7            (3)   posts or receives content on a platform in this
 8      Commonwealth.
 9   Section 4.     Acceptable use policy.
10      (a)   Policy required.--Each platform shall develop and
11   institute an acceptable use policy in accordance with this act.
12      (b)   Publication of policy.--A platform shall publish the
13   platform's acceptable use policy in a location that is easily
14   accessible to a user.
15      (c)   Requirements of policy.--A platform's acceptable use
16   policy shall, at a minimum:
17            (1)   reasonably inform a user about the type of content
18      that the platform deems violative of its acceptable use
19      policy;
20            (2)   explain the steps the platform will take to ensure
21      that content complies with the acceptable use policy;
22            (3)   explain the means by which a user can notify the
23      platform of content that potentially violates the acceptable
24      use policy, illegal content or illegal activity; and
25            (4)   reasonably inform a user about the user's right to
26      appeal the platform's removal of content that allegedly
27      violates the platform's acceptable use policy in accordance
28      with section 6.
29   Section 5.     Removal of content.
30      (a)   Notification and appeal.--Except as provided under

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 1   subsection (b), if a platform removes content based on an
 2   alleged violation of the platform's acceptable use policy, the
 3   platform shall:
 4            (1)   immediately notify the user who posted the content
 5      of the removal and explain the reason for the removal of the
 6      content from the platform; and
 7            (2)   allow the user to appeal the decision to remove the
 8      content from the platform in accordance with section 6.
 9      (b)   Exception.--A platform is not required to provide a user
10   with notice or an opportunity to appeal under section 6 if the
11   platform knows or reasonably believes that the alleged policy-
12   violating content relates to an ongoing law enforcement
13   investigation.
14   Section 6.     Appeal of content removal.
15      (a)   Appeal system.--A platform shall provide an easily
16   accessible appeal system to enable a user to submit an appeal
17   regarding the platform's decision to remove alleged policy-
18   violating content posted by the user on the platform.
19      (b)   Appeal process.--Upon receiving an appeal regarding the
20   platform's removal of content that the user asserts did not
21   violate the platform's acceptable use policy, the platform
22   shall, no later than 14 days after receiving the appeal:
23            (1)   review the content;
24            (2)   determine whether the content adheres to the
25      platform's acceptable use policy;
26            (3)   take appropriate steps based on the determination
27      under paragraph (2); and
28            (4)   notify the user regarding the determination made
29      under paragraph (2) and the steps taken under paragraph (3).
30   Section 7.     Biannual public transparency report.

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 1      (a)   Report required.--A platform shall publish a report
 2   every six months that includes, with respect to the preceding
 3   six-month period, the following information:
 4            (1)   The total number of instances in which the platform
 5      was alerted to alleged illegal content, illegal activity or
 6      content that violates the platform's acceptable use policy
 7      by:
 8                  (i)    a user complaint;
 9                  (ii)    an employee of or person contracting with the
10            social media platform; or
11                  (iii)    an internal automated detection tool.
12            (2)   Subject to subsection (b), the number of instances
13      in which the platform took any of the following adverse
14      actions after determining that content was illegal, depicted
15      illegal activity or violated the platform's acceptable use
16      policy:
17                  (i)    Content removal.
18                  (ii)    Content demonetization.
19                  (iii)    Content deprioritization.
20                  (iv)    Negative categorization or disclaimer of the
21            content.
22                  (v)    Account suspension.
23                  (vi)    Account removal.
24                  (vii)    Any other action taken in accordance with the
25            platform's acceptable use policy.
26            (3)   The purported country of residence of the user who
27      created or posted the content for each instance described
28      under paragraph (2).
29            (4)   The number of instances in which a user appealed the
30      decision to remove the user's content that allegedly violated

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 1      the platform's acceptable use policy under section 6.
 2            (5)   Of the appeals identified under paragraph (4), the
 3      percentage of appeals that resulted in the restoration of
 4      content.
 5            (6)   To the platform's knowledge or belief, the number of
 6      instances in which an adverse action identified under
 7      paragraph (2) was directed at a user who, at the time of
 8      posting the content for which the platform took the adverse
 9      action, was employed or engaged as a:
10                  (i)    Federal, state or local politician;
11                  (ii)    Federal, state or local political candidate;
12                  (iii)    Federal, state or local public official;
13                  (iv)    Federal, state or local political organization;
14                  (v)    public institution as that term is defined in
15            section 102 of the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
16            No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code; or
17                  (vi)    journalist.
18      (b)   Categorization of adverse actions.--The information
19   described under subsection (a)(2) shall be categorized by the:
20            (1)   rule the user violated; and
21            (2)   source for the alert of illegal content, illegal
22      activity or content that violated the platform's acceptable
23      use policy, including:
24                  (i)    a governmental entity;
25                  (ii)    a user;
26                  (iii)    an internal automated detection tool; or
27                  (iv)    persons employed by or contracting with the
28            platform.
29      (c)   Governmental entity.--If the source for the alert of
30   illegal content, illegal activity or alleged policy-violating

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1   content under subsection (b)(2) was a governmental entity, the
2   platform shall identify the name of the entity with as much
3   specificity as possible.
4      (d)   Publication of report.--A platform shall publish the
5   report required under subsection (a) with an open license, in a
6   readable and open format and in a location that is easily
7   accessible to users.
8   Section 8.   Effective date.
9      This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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