United States of America: Announced Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA)

On 9 December 2021, the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA) is announced by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del) alongside SenRob Portman (R-Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn). The Bill aims to introduce a new mechanism under which independent researchers could submit requests to the National Science Foundation and if approved, receive access to data gathered by social media companies. In addition, the act would introduce protections for researchers against legal liability when they collect platform information if the privacy safeguards are respected. Furthermore, the Bill would give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the power to mandate online platforms to make certain types of data publicly available. The act would be enforced by the FTC and in case of non-compliance, companies could lose immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The legislators announced that they will work with stakeholders to gather additional information before the act is introduced in US Congress.