Digital Social Platform Transparency Act

Digital Social Platform Transparency Act

This bill requires large digital social platforms, or their parent companies, to make certain public disclosures about platforms' terms of service, responses to content flagged as violating those terms, and content moderation policies. The bill directs digital social platforms to post their terms of service publicly, and such terms must include a description of the mechanisms through which users may report content that violates the terms.

The bill also requires each platform to submit semiannual reports to the Department of Justice (DOJ) that include, among other disclosures

•    the platform’s current terms of service;
•    a statement of whether and how certain categories of content are defined in the platform’s terms, including hate speech, racism, disinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference;
•    a description of the platform’s content moderation policies; and
•    reports on flagged violations of the platform’s terms of service and the disposition of any flagged content.

DOJ must make such reports publicly available online. The bill imposes a per-day fine on platforms that fail to report or misrepresent required information.

Under the bill, digital social platforms are defined as internet-based platforms that function primarily to allow users to interact socially by creating and viewing content and which generate more than $100 million in annual gross revenue. Some categories of online platforms are explicitly excluded, including those that primarily facilitate email communications and consumer transactions.