McGovern Introduces Big Tech Accountability Act to Protect Americans’ Privacy and Hold Tech Giants Accountable

WASHINGTON-Today, Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) introduced the Big Tech Accountability Act to protect Americans' online privacy and personal autonomy and hold powerful technology corporations accountable for the harms caused by their platforms.

"Big Tech companies have an enormous amount of power over what we see, what we share, and what happens to our personal information-and for too long, the rules governing that power simply haven't kept pace," said Congressman McGovern. "These platforms should not get a free pass to exploit people's private data or design systems that knowingly push dangerous content because outrage and division are good for business. This bill is an effort to put some reasonable guardrails in place, give people more control over their own information, and make sure enormously powerful corporations can be held accountable for the choices they make."

A handful of Big Tech corporations have enormous influence over how Americans communicate, consume information, and participate in public life. At the same time, their business models rely heavily on collecting and monetizing personal data and using algorithms designed to keep users engaged-often by promoting increasingly inflammatory or sensational content.

The Big Tech Accountability Act provides a framework for addressing both concerns: protecting Americans from the commercial exploitation of their personal information while establishing greater accountability when technology companies actively target and amplify fraudulent disinformation, threats, or criminal violence.

The bill is backed by Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that works to limit the influence of money in politics and protect our democracy.

"By protecting the biggest social media companies from accountability, current federal law allows them to profit with impunity from amplifying threats of violence and disinformation and exploiting personal information," said Ben Clements, Chairman and Senior Legal Advisor of Free Speech For People. "While this model has made billions for the world's largest corporations and their owners, it has come at a grave cost to our democracy, to the ability of government to function in the 21st Century, and to the dignity, safety, and privacy of our people. By subjecting the big social media companies to the same accountability that applies to the rest of us, the Big Tech Accountability Act is a long overdue step toward putting people, not corporations and billionaires, first."

The Big Tech Accountability Act would establish stronger protections for Americans' personal information and limit the ability of technology companies to exploit that information for profit. It would also create greater accountability when social media companies actively target and amplify fraudulent disinformation, threats, or criminal violence through their algorithms.

Bill text is available here.

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