Senator Hawley Proposes New Congressional Legislation Targeting Behavioral Ads

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has recently announced his new legislation titled the Behavioral Advertising Decisions Are Downgrading Services (BAD ADS) Act. This bill proposes to remove Section 230 immunity from Big Tech companies that display manipulative, behavioral ads or provide data to be used for them. Behavioral ads are defined in the legislation. 

It is unclear as to how this ties directly to Section 230 immunity and is different from other Congressional bills that create a nexus between Section 230 and its protections to content policies on websites. This bill would not apply to contextual ads  such as advertising that is directed to a user based on:

• ‘‘(aa) the content of the website, online service, online application, or mobile application to which the user is connected;

• ‘‘(bb) the location of the user, as of the time at which the advertising is directed to the user; or

• ‘‘(cc) the search terms that the user applied to arrive at the website, service, or application to which the user is connected

Regardless of whether this or other legislation gets enacted this year, Section 230 comes under increasing scrutiny by policymakers. It’s a question of when for technology regulation, so if you are a technology stakeholder it is better to be prepared.

Lanton Law is a national boutique law and government affairs firm that focuses on technology and healthcare. If you are an industry stakeholder with questions about the current landscape or if you would like to discuss how your organization’s strategic initiatives might be impacted by either Congress, regulatory agencies or legal decisions, contact us today.