H.R. 8596: Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritans Act

116th Congress · introduced 2020-10-16 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2020-10-16 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Budd, Ted [R-NC-13] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritans Act

Plain summary

Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritans Act This bill requires an edge provider of an interactive computer service (e.g., social media website) to adopt and maintain written terms of service binding itself to a contractual duty of good faith in order to qualify for the statutory protection against being treated as the publisher of information distributed through the service by a third party. An edge provider is a provider of an interactive computer service through which information published by other content providers is distributed and that has more than (1) $1.5 billion in annual global revenue, and (2) 30 million monthly users in the United States or 300 million monthly users worldwide.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritans Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Budd, Ted [R-NC-13] · 7 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Lance Gooden (R-TX)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Budd, Ted [R-NC-13] reported raising $1.8 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116hr8596.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/hr>

Record fed-us-cong116-hr8596 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116