{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://norman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1052", "Reps. Norman, Rice, and Joyce Introduce The PROMISE Act to Hold Big Tech Accountable", "2021-11-04", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "SC", "Ralph Norman", "N000190", "norman.house.gov", "norman", "https://norman.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "On Tuesday, Representatives Ralph Norman (R-SC), Tom Rice (R-SC), and David Joyce (R-OH) introduced The Promoting Responsibility Over Moderation In the Social Media Environment (PROMISE) Act, a bill to hold Big Tech companies accountable for their promises to operate without political bias. This is companion legislation to a bill introduced by Senator Mike Lee\u2019s PROMISE Act in the U.S. Senate.\n\nThe PROMISE Act would:\n\n(1) Require a \u201ccovered entity\u201d to implement, operate, and disclose information moderation policies that explain the standards, processes, and policies regarding its moderation of information provided by a user or other information content provider.\n\nSuch policy must include: (A) categories of information not permitted on its service or subject to moderation by users or the entity itself; (B) the process used in moderating content; and (C) the notification process (if any) utilized to inform users of a moderation action taken, the rationale for the moderation decision, and options for redress (if any).\n\n(2) Prohibits a \u201ccovered entity\u201d from making a \u201cdeceptive policy statement\u201d with respect to its information moderation policy. A \u201cdeceptive policy statement\u201d carries with it a rebuttable presumption that a statement is material and likely to cause injury.\n\n(3) Make violations of the requirements to implement, operate, or disclose an \u201cinformation moderation policy\u201d or to not make a \u201cdeceptive policy statement\u201d constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a))\n\n\u201cFor too long, Silicon Valley Elites have leveraged the power of Big Tech to not only censor conservatives but smear us. This legislation will bring about transparency for consumers and dilute any deniability social media giants still retain in moderating or removing user content without reason or cause,\u201d said Congressman Norman.\n\n\u201cFrom deleting conservative content to banning conservative ads, we\u2019ve seen time and time again that Big Tech lies to the American people when they claim to operate under the guise of neutrality,\u201d said Congressman Rice. \u201cThe PROMISE Act will help keep Big Tech from weaponizing against Americans who hold differing views than the billionaires of Silicon Valley. This legislation requires Big Tech to explain their content moderation policies and holds them accountable to following those policies.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith just a small handful of platforms dominating the exchange of ideas online, it\u2019s critical that their content moderation policies be implemented consistently and fairly across the board,\u201d said Congressman Joyce. \u201cUnfortunately, we now know that Big Tech and Silicon Valley often do the exact opposite, suppressing speech and views they disagree with. The natural competition of all thought and expression \u2013 not just those that are popular in elite circles \u2013 is a staple of any free, democratic society. That\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to introduce the PROMISE Act. By holding Facebook and other online platforms accountable for their biased censorship decisions, this important legislation will help ensure the internet fosters the free exchange of all ideas, no matter if they are liberal or conservative.\u201d\n\nBackground\n\nIn a Pew Research study conducted in August 2020, polls show most Americans, both liberal and conservative, believe that Big Tech is involved in censoring opinions and information the company does not agree with. Additionally, the same research polls show Americans from both parties also agree these companies tend to favor liberal ideologies over conservative views.\n\nMore recently, Facebook has been the center of scrutiny within Congress. Although it tried its efforts in a campaign earlier this year to promote \u201ccontent modification\u201d and increased speech regulation, some believe Facebook and other media tech giants are not doing enough to eliminate speech they simply do not agree with.\n\nThe PROMISE Act aims to preserve our First Amendment rights by holding Big Tech accountable and requiring transparency in how information is moderated and shared to ensure political bias is not in question.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://norman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1052"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 11.718369089066982, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}