What This Bill Does · Plain English
Summary · Congress.gov
Transparency in Bureaucratic Communications Act This bill requires federal offices of inspectors general to include in their existing semiannual reports to Congress information about any communications between their department or agency and certain online platforms and services. Specifically, such reports must include details on the contents and circumstances of any communication or attempted communication with an internet platform, information content provider, or access software provider. Covered communications include those addressing specific online content, content moderation practices, and any other topic related to a platform's or service's data inputs, algorithms, modeling and simulation processes, analysis tools, or any related tool.
Action Timeline
2025-01-09
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
2025-01-09
Introduced in Senate
Frequently Asked Questions
Did S.66 pass?
S.66 is still alive. Current stage: COMMITTEE. Pass likelihood: 40%.
What does S.66 do?
Transparency in Bureaucratic Communications Act This bill requires federal offices of inspectors general to include in their existing semiannual reports to Congress information about any communications between their department or agency and certain online platforms and services. Specifically, such reports must include details on the contents and circumstances of any communication or attempted communication with an internet platform, information content provider, or access software provider. Covered communications include those addressing specific online content, content moderation practices, a…
Who sponsored S.66?
S.66 was sponsored by Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri).
Full Bill Text
119 S66 IS: Transparency in Bureaucratic Communications Act U.S. Senate 2025-01-09 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. II 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 66 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 9, 2025 Mr. Schmitt introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to instruct Inspectors General to report to Congress on social media communications. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Transparency in Bureaucratic Communications Act . 2. Inspector General Act of 1978 Section 405(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (1) in paragraph (21)(B), by striking and at the end; (2) in paragraph (22)(B), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (23) a detailed description of the contents and particular circumstances of any communication, or attempted communication, between the establishment and any internet computer service, information content provider, or access software provider (as defined under section 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 230(f) ), including— (A) communications regarding content moderation (as described under section 230(c)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 230(c)(2) ); (B) user content, including posts, photos, and videos; and (C) any other communications relating to the internet computer service, information content provider, or access software provider’s data inputs, algorithms, modeling and simulation processes, analysis tools, or any related tool. .
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