Online Consumer Protection Act

Key Points

• Social media platforms and online marketplaces must publish clear, plain-language terms of service that cover content ownership, payment methods, data sharing with third parties, and content moderation policies. These must be machine-readable and publicly available at all times.
• Companies must create a full consumer protection program, appoint a consumer protection officer who reports to the CEO, and set up processes to monitor and enforce compliance. Platforms with over $250,000 in revenue or 10,000 monthly active users must file annual reports with the FTC, with top officers personally certifying their accuracy.
• Violations of this law would be treated as unfair or deceptive practices under FTC rules, and regular people could sue companies directly in court for actual damages. The bill bans forced arbitration clauses and class-action waivers for disputes under this law, giving consumers a real path to hold companies accountable.
• The bill explicitly removes Section 230 protections for violations of this law, meaning platforms could no longer use that legal shield to avoid accountability when they fail to follow their own terms of service or consumer protection policies.
• State attorneys general would gain the power to bring civil actions in federal or state court to enforce this law, seek penalties, and obtain damages on behalf of residents. States can also combine their own consumer protection claims with claims under this federal law in a single lawsuit.