1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act”.
Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act
A BILL
To amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the scope of protection from civil liability for good Samaritan blocking and screening of offensive material.
2. Protection from civil liability for “good Samaritan” blocking and screening of offensive material
Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) is amended—
in subsection (c)—
in paragraph (1)—
by striking “No provider” and inserting the following:
“(A) In general—No provider”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) Applicability
“(i) In general—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any decision or agreement made or action taken by a provider or user of an interactive computer service to restrict access to or availability of material provided by another information content provider.
“(ii) Civil liability—Any applicable immunity for a decision or agreement made or action taken by a provider or user of an interactive computer service described in clause (i) shall be provided solely by paragraph (2).”
in paragraph (2)—
in subparagraph (A)—
by striking “considers to be” and inserting “has an objectively reasonable belief is”; and
by striking “or otherwise objectionable” and inserting “promoting self-harm, promoting terrorism, or unlawful”; and
in subparagraph (B), by striking “paragraph (1)” and inserting “subparagraph (A)”; and
in subsection (f)(3)—
by striking “The term” and inserting the following:
“(A) In general—The term”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) Responsibility—For purposes of subparagraph (A), being responsible in whole or in part for the creation or development of information—
“(i) includes any instance in which a person or entity editorializes or affirmatively and substantively modifies the content of another person or entity; and
“(ii) does not include a change to the format, layout, or basic appearance of the content of another person or entity.”