Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 17, 2021
Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency Act or the PACT Act
This bill requires providers of interactive computer services (e.g., social media companies) to publish their policy explaining the types of content permissible on the service and provide a system for users to submit complaints about content that may violate the policy or involve illegal content.
Further, social media companies must establish a process for removing certain content that violates their policies and notifying the information content provider about the removal, including a mechanism to appeal the removal. Social media companies also must publish a report every six months that details the instances in which the company took action with respect to content, including removing content, deprioritizing content, and suspending content provider accounts. The bill removes certain liability protections for companies if the company has actual knowledge of illegal content on its service and does not remove it within specified time frames.
The bill provides for enforcement of these requirements by the Federal Trade Commission.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.797 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.797 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.797 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.797 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.