S. 1885 — Stop the Scroll Act

This section states eight congressional findings on the physical and mental health risks of social media platforms—including bullying, harassment, discrimination, child sexual exploitation, and addictive algorithms—and the value of warning labels to raise user awareness, as recommended in the May 2023 Surgeon General advisory.

This section defines terms for purposes of this Act, including (1) "anonymous content sharing platform" as any website or mobile application that does not require registration and is used to share content, including digital images, recorded videos, text conversations, or live video conversations; (2) "Commission" as the Federal Trade Commission; (3) "covered platform" as a social media platform, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1862w, or an anonymous content sharing platform; (4) "covered platform provider" as any person who, for commercial purposes in or affecting commerce, provides, manages, operates, or controls a covered platform; (5) "Secretary" as the Secretary of Health and Human Services; and (6) "user" as, with respect to a covered platform, a person who registers an account with, creates a profile on, or otherwise accesses the covered platform.

This section requires a covered platform provider to display a mental health warning label—warning of potential negative mental health impacts and providing access to federal resources including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline—to each user physically located in the United States upon every platform access. The label must be clear and conspicuous, disappear only upon user exit or acknowledgment of risks (with redisplays required after each hour of continuous use), and comply with regulations promulgated by the Commission with Surgeon General concurrence not later than 180 days after enactment; such regulations are subject to review and revision not later than five years after promulgation and every five years thereafter. Covered platform providers may not present the label solely via hyperlink or terms and conditions, include extraneous information that obscures it, or allow user disabling except as specified.

This section establishes Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement of the Act by treating violations by covered platform providers as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under FTC Act section 18(a)(1)(B) (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) and authorizing the FTC to enforce using the same manner, means, jurisdiction, powers, and duties as under the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), including penalties, privileges, and immunities provided therein. It further requires the FTC to enforce against organizations not organized for profit and common carriers subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.)—entities generally exempt from FTC jurisdiction under FTC Act sections 4 and 5(a)(2) (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2))—and directs the FTC, with concurrence from the Secretary acting through the Surgeon General, to promulgate necessary rules under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553). (Thus, the Act expands FTC authority beyond its standard limits.) This section also authorizes state attorneys general to bring parens patriae civil actions in federal district court against covered platform providers for violations threatening state residents, seeking relief including civil penalties calculated by multiplying (A) the greater of the number of noncompliance days or affected end users by (B) the maximum penalty under FTC Act section 5(m)(1)(A) (15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A)), adjusted for inflation. State actions require prior notice to the FTC (or immediate notice if infeasible), permit FTC intervention and appeal rights, allow state investigatory powers under state law, are preempted if the FTC has instituted an action on the same facts, and may be venued under 28 U.S.C. 1391 with nationwide service of process; it further permits other state consumer protection officials to act.