H.R. 3421: SAFE TECH Act

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H.R. 3421: SAFE TECH Act

117th Congress · introduced 2021-05-20 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

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Official title

SAFE TECH Act

Plain summary

Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer Harms Act or the SAFE TECH Act This bill limits federal liability protection that applies to a user or provider of an interactive computer service (e.g., a social media company) for claims related to content provided by third parties. Specifically, the bill applies the liability protection to claims arising from third-party speech rather than third-party information. Additionally, the liability protection shall not apply if a user or provider (1) accepts payment to make the speech available, or (2) creates or funds (in whole or in part) the speech. The bill changes legal procedures concerning the liability protection by (1) requiring a defendant in a lawsuit to raise the liability protection as an affirmative defense, and (2) placing the burden of proving that the defense applies on the defendant. Some courts have held that the current liability protection bars claims for civil penalties and injunctive relief. The bill expressly excludes from the liability protection requests for injunctive relief arising from a provider's failure to remove, restrict access to, or prevent dissemination of material likely to cause irreparable harm. However, the bill protects a provider from liability for actions taken to comply with such injunctions. Under current law, the liability protection does not apply to federal criminal law, intellectual property law, and other designated areas of law. The bill further specifies that the liability protection shall not apply to civil rights law; antitrust law; stalking, harassment, or intimidation laws; international human rights law; and civil actions for wrongful death.

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

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Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. McEachin, A. Donald [D-VA-4] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Kathy Castor (D-FL), Mike Levin (D-CA)

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.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-117hr3421.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/hr>

Record fed-us-cong117-hr3421 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong117 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong117