Current status is Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1885

1. Short title
2. Findings
3. Definitions
4. Warning label
5. Enforcement
6. Effective date

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the "Stop the Scroll Act".

2. Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1) - Social media platform use is associated with risks to the physical and mental health of users, including exposure to bullying, online harassment and abuse, discrimination, and child sexual exploitation.

(2) - Product warning labels can increase awareness of risks and influence behavior.

(3) - Extended use of social media, which addictive algorithms encourage, can contribute to negative health impacts associated with covered platforms.

(4) - The Federal Government has a compelling interest in ensuring that users of a covered platform can make informed decisions about the amount of time the user spends on the covered platform, which requires an understanding of the mental health risks involved with using a covered platform.

(5) - In May 2023, the Surgeon General issued an advisory warning that social media use is associated with a broad range of harms to mental health, and then called for warning labels on covered platforms to raise awareness of these risks and promote healthier online engagement.

(6) - Given the substantial body of evidence documenting the adverse health effects of unregulated digital engagement, it is both appropriate and necessary to require clear, factual risk disclosures to ensure users are adequately informed before engaging with such platforms.

(7) - This approach aligns with well-established public health standards that have long governed disclosure practices in industries affecting consumer well-being.

(8) - Conspicuousness of labels is important, as evidenced by studies on tobacco and alcohol warning labels.

3. Definitions

In this Act:

(1) Anonymous content sharing platform - The term anonymous content sharing platform means any website or mobile application that does not require registration and is used to share content, including digital images, recorded videos, text conversations, or live video conversations.

(2) Commission - The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.

(3) Covered platform - The term covered platform means—

(A) - a social media platform as such term is defined in section 124 of the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. 1862w); or

(B) - an anonymous content sharing platform.

(4) Covered platform provider - The term covered platform provider means any person who, for commercial purposes in or affecting commerce, provides, manages, operates, or controls a covered platform.

(5) Secretary - The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(6) User - The term user means, with respect to a covered platform, a person who registers an account with, creates a profile on, or otherwise accesses the covered platform.

4. Warning label

(a) In general - A covered platform provider shall—

(1) - each time a user accesses the covered platform of the provider while physically located in the United States, clearly and conspicuously display a mental health warning label (referred to in this section as a "covered label") that complies with the requirements under this section, including the regulations promulgated under subsection (d);

(2) - cause the covered label to disappear only if the user—

(A) - exits the covered platform; or

(B) - acknowledges the potential for harm and chooses to proceed to the covered platform despite the risk; and

(3) - if a user acknowledges the potential for harm and chooses to proceed to the covered platform in accordance with paragraph (2)(B), redisplay such covered label after each hour of continuous use by such user.

(b) Content of covered label - A covered label shall—

(1) - warn the user of potential negative mental health impacts of accessing the covered platform; and

(2) - provide the user access to Federal resources to address the potential negative mental health impacts described in paragraph (1), including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

(1) - include a covered label exclusively through a hyperlink or in the terms and conditions of the covered platform;

(2) - include extraneous information in a covered label that obscures the visibility or prominence of the covered label; or

(3) - allow a user to disable a covered label, except as provided in subsection (a).

(d) Implementation - Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, with the concurrence of the Secretary acting through the Surgeon General, shall promulgate regulations containing appropriate requirements for a covered label.

(e) Review - Not later than 5 years after the date on which the Commission promulgates the regulations required by subsection (d), and not less frequently than once every 5 years thereafter, the Commission, with the concurrence of the Secretary acting through the Surgeon General, shall review and revise such regulations to address changes in technology, market conditions, and medical science.

5. Enforcement

(a) Enforcement by the commission -

(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices - A violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act by a covered platform provider shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).

(2) Powers of the commission -

(A) In general - Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the Commission shall enforce this Act and any regulation promulgated under this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.

(B) Privileges and immunities - Except as provided in subparagraph (C), any person who violates this Act or any regulation promulgated under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).

(C) Nonprofit organizations and common carriers - Notwithstanding section 4 or 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2)) or any jurisdictional limitation of the Commission, the Commission shall also enforce this Act and any regulation promulgated under this Act, in the same manner provided in subparagraphs (A) and (B), with respect to—

(i) - organizations not organized to carry on business for their own profit or that of their members; and

(ii) - common carriers subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and all Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto.

(D) Authority preserved - Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law.

(E) Rulemaking - The Commission, with the concurrence of the Secretary acting through the Surgeon General, shall promulgate in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, such rules as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

(b) Enforcement by States -

(1) Authorization - Subject to paragraph (3), in any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of the State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of a covered platform provider in a practice that violates this Act, the attorney general of the State may, as parens patriae, bring a civil action against the covered platform provider on behalf of the residents of the State in an appropriate district court of the United States to obtain appropriate relief, including civil penalties in the amount determined under paragraph (2).

(2) Civil penalties - A covered platform provider that is found, in an action brought under paragraph (1), to have knowingly or repeatedly violated this Act shall, in addition to any other penalty otherwise applicable to a violation of this Act, be liable for a civil penalty equal to the amount calculated by multiplying—

(A) - the greater of—

(i) - the number of days during which the covered platform provider was not in compliance with this Act; or

(ii) - the number of end users for whom the covered label was not displayed as a result of the violation; by

(B) - an amount not to exceed the maximum civil penalty for which a person, partnership, or corporation may be liable under section 5(m)(1)(A) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A)) (including any adjustments for inflation).

(3) Rights of the commission -

(A) Notice to the commission -

(i) In general - Except as provided in clause (iii), the attorney general of a State shall notify the Commission in writing that the attorney general intends to bring a civil action under paragraph (1) before initiating the civil action.

(ii) Contents - The notification required under clause (i) with respect to a civil action shall include a copy of the complaint to be filed to initiate the civil action.

(iii) Exception - If it is not feasible for the attorney general of a State to provide the notification required under clause (i) before initiating a civil action under paragraph (1), the attorney general shall notify the Commission immediately upon instituting the civil action.

(B) Intervention by the commission - The Commission may—

(i) - intervene in any civil action brought by the attorney general of a State under paragraph (1); and

(ii) - upon intervening—

(I) - be heard on all matters arising in the civil action; and

(II) - file petitions for appeal in the civil action.

(4) Investigatory powers - Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent the attorney general of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the laws of the State to—

(A) - conduct investigations;

(B) - administer oaths or affirmations; or

(5) Preemptive action by the commission - If the Commission institutes a civil action or an administrative action with respect to a violation of this Act, the attorney general of a State may not, during the pendency of such action, bring a civil action under paragraph (1) against any defendant named in the complaint of the Commission based on the same set of facts giving rise to the alleged violation with respect to which the Commission instituted the action.

(6) Venue; service of process -

(A) Venue - Any action brought under paragraph (1) may be brought in—

(i) - the district court of the United States that meets applicable requirements relating to venue under section 1391 of title 28, United States Code; or

(ii) - another court of competent jurisdiction.

(B) Service of process - In an action brought under paragraph (1), process may be served in any district in which the defendant—

(i) - is an inhabitant; or

(ii) - may be found.

(7) Actions by other State officials - In addition to a civil action brought by an attorney general under paragraph (1), any other consumer protection officer of a State who is authorized by the State to do so may bring a civil action under paragraph (1), subject to the same requirements and limitations that apply under this subsection to a civil action brought by an attorney general.

(8) Savings provision - Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prohibit an authorized official of a State from initiating or continuing any proceeding in a court of the State for a violation of any civil or criminal law of the State.

(c) Extraterritorial jurisdiction - There is extraterritorial jurisdiction over any violation of this Act if such violation involves an individual in the United States or if any act in furtherance of the violation was committed in the United States.

6. Effective date

This Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.

119-S1885

Stop the Scroll Act