Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “No Preferential Release Of Federal Information for Transactions Act” or the “NO PROFIT Act”.
No Preferential Release Of Federal Information for Transactions Act
A BILL
To prohibit the purchase or sale of securities while aware of nonpublic information contained in certain social media accounts controlled by Government officials, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Commodity; contract of sale; future delivery; option; swap— The terms commodity, contract of sale, future delivery, option, and swap have the meanings given those terms in section 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a).
Communication— The term communication means any post, statement, message, image, video, audio recording, or other content generated, published, or distributed through a social media platform.
Covered family member— The term covered family member means the spouse, dependent child, or other immediate family member of a covered government official.
Covered government official— The term covered government official—
means—
the President;
the Vice President;
a Member of Congress;
an employee of Congress;
an executive branch employee;
a judicial officer; or
a judicial employee; and
includes an individual described in any clause of subparagraph (A) during the 180-day period beginning on the date on which the individual separates from the position described in the applicable clause.
Covered social media account— The term covered social media account means an account or profile on a social media platform that is—
owned, operated, maintained, directed, or controlled by—
a covered government official;
a covered family member;
another person acting at the direction of, or on behalf of, a covered government official or a covered family member; or
a Federal agency, executive department, military department, or other instrumentality of the Federal Government; or
used by or on behalf of a covered government official, or a covered family member, to communicate with the public.
Employee of Congress— The term employee of Congress means—
any individual, other than a Member of Congress, the compensation of whom is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives; and
any other officer or employee of the legislative branch, as defined in section 13101 of title 5, United States Code.
Executive branch employee— The term executive branch employee—
means an employee, as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, in the executive branch of the Federal Government; and
includes—
the President;
the Vice President;
an individual serving in a position in the executive branch of the Federal Government for which appointment is made by the President, without regard to whether the advice and consent of the Senate is required with respect to that appointment, including an individual serving in a position—
at level I, II, III, IV, or V of the Executive Schedule, as described in section 5312, 5313, 5314, 5315, or 5316 of title 5, United States Code, respectively;
described in section 213.3102(c) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation;
described in section 213.3102(z) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation; and
under schedule A under subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations;
an employee of the United States Postal Service or of the Postal Regulatory Commission;
a member of the uniformed services, as defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to whether that individual is on active duty;
an individual serving in a Senior Executive Service position, as defined in section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code;
an individual serving in a position in the executive branch of the Federal Government in a political capacity under agency-specific authority; and
an individual serving in any position described in this paragraph under a provisional political appointment.
Generally available— The term generally available, with respect to a communication issued through a covered social media account, means that the communication is disseminated through a method (or combination of methods) that is available to ordinary social media platform users through the standard, no-cost interface, without regard to whether the communication is also accessible through any other means, interface, or arrangement.
Judicial employee; judicial officer— The terms judicial employee and judicial officer have the meanings given those terms in section 13101 of title 5, United States Code.
Material information— The term material information means information with respect to which there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would consider the information important in making an investment or trading decision.
Member of Congress— The term Member of Congress means a Member of the Senate or House of Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
Prioritized access— The term prioritized access means any service, arrangement, method, or functionality through which a social media platform, directly or indirectly, allows a person or class of persons to receive, access, view, process, or otherwise become aware of a communication issued through a covered social media account—
before the communication is generally available; or
on terms that differ materially in timing, latency, method of delivery, format, functionality, or technical accessibility from the terms available to other users of the social media platform, unless those terms are for accessibility accommodations offered on a non-discriminatory basis.
Prioritized covered information— The term prioritized covered information means material information contained in a communication issued through a covered social media account that—
is obtained by a person through prioritized access; and
at the time the person obtains the information, is not generally available.
Social media platform— The term social media platform has the meaning given the term in section 124(a) of the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. 1862w(a)).
Speculative information market— The term speculative information market means a market, platform, facility, or system through which a person may purchase, sell, or enter into a contract, the value of, or payment with respect to which, is based, in whole or in part, on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event or the outcome of a future contingency.
Sec. 3 Prohibition on trading while aware of prioritized covered information
Prohibition— It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, while aware of prioritized covered information and before that information is generally available, to—
purchase, sell, or otherwise enter into a transaction involving—
a security or security-based swap;
a commodity, contract of sale of a commodity for future delivery, commodity option, or swap; or
a contract offered through a speculative information market;
cause or direct another person to enter into a transaction described in paragraph (1); or
communicate prioritized covered information to another person if the person communicating the prioritized covered information knows, or reasonably should know, that the recipient of the prioritized covered information is likely to enter into a transaction described in paragraph (1) while aware of that prioritized covered information and before the prioritized covered information is generally available.
Knowledge of prioritized access— A person shall not be liable under subsection (a) unless the person knew, or reasonably should have known, that the applicable prioritized covered information was obtained through prioritized access.
Breach of duty not required— A violation of subsection (a) shall not require proof that the applicable prioritized covered information was obtained or communicated through a breach of a fiduciary duty, a relationship of trust or confidence, or any other duty of trust or confidence.
Securities and security-Based swaps— A violation of this section involving a transaction involving a security or security-based swap shall be treated as a violation of section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–1), and the Securities and Exchange Commission may enforce that violation in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and remedies available to the Commission under such section 21A, without regard to whether that transaction would otherwise (but for the operation of this subsection) constitute a violation of such section 21A.
Commodities, futures, options, swaps, and speculative information market contracts— A violation of this section involving a transaction involving a commodity, a contract of sale of a commodity for future delivery, an option, a swap, or a contract of sale of a commodity offered through a speculative information market shall be treated as a violation of section 6(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 9), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission may enforce that violation in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and remedies available to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under such section 6(c), without regard to whether that transaction would otherwise (but for the operation of this subsection) constitute a violation of such section 6(c).
Rulemaking— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission shall jointly issue such rules as may be necessary to carry out this section.
Sec. 4 Prohibition on prioritized access to covered social media accounts
Prohibition—
In general— It shall be unlawful for a social media platform, directly or indirectly, to knowingly offer, provide, sell, license, or otherwise make available prioritized access to a communication issued through a covered social media account.
Rules of construction— Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to restrict—
the ability of a social media platform to offer prioritized access to a communication issued through an account or profile that is not a covered social media account;
the use by a social media platform of algorithmic content ranking or the delivery of content or information intended for a specific user at no additional cost to the user and on the basis of data held by the social media platform that identifies, or is used to predict, content or information that could be of interest to that user;
the ability of a social media platform to offer prioritized access directly to a Federal, territorial, Tribal, State, or local agency or to first responders and a segment of the public at the direction of such an agency, for the purpose of communicating information concerning public health or public safety, or in the event of emergency or disaster, provided that no fee is charged to any third-party recipient of such prioritized access; or
the offering, provision, or licensing by a social media platform of programmatic, application programming interface, or data-licensing access to a communication issued through a covered social media account, provided that such access—
is offered on reasonable terms that do not discriminate among recipients of comparable programmatic or data-licensing access;
does not make the communication available to a person, or class of persons, before the communication is generally available; and
does not confer any advantage in timing or latency, relative to the general availability of the communication, that is conditioned on the payment of a fee or on membership in a closed or restricted class of recipients.
Civil penalties—
In general— A social media platform that violates subsection (a) shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount equal to the total revenue received by the platform for the prioritized access that gave rise to the violation.
Recovery— The Attorney General may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States to recover a civil penalty under paragraph (1).