Platform Accountability and Transparency Act
Sponsored By: Senator Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced
Summary
Establishes platform transparency and controlled researcher access to platform-held data. The bill would create a joint National Science Foundation and Federal Trade Commission process to approve vetted research projects and require public disclosures about content, advertising, algorithms, and moderation.
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- Qualified researchers at U.S. universities or 501(c) nonprofit organizations could access approved, privacy-protected datasets for noncommercial, public-interest projects, but requests must be necessary, proportional, and cannot include direct messages, biometric data, or precise geolocation. Judicial review of approval decisions would be barred.
- Platforms with at least 50 million unique monthly U.S. users would have to provide required data, maintain data dictionaries, and support public repositories and APIs under security and privacy safeguards. Platforms may appeal or explain infeasibility, must notify the FTC of access restrictions, and receive a safe harbor when they follow the Act's safeguards.
- The public would get a content repository for widely viewed posts and an advertising library that covers the full ad display period plus one year. The bill would also require semiannual disclosures about recommender or ranking algorithms and detailed moderation and violating content statistics.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Federal research data access rules
If enacted, the bill would require the NSF, with the FTC, to create a program for approved U.S. university and nonprofit researchers to get platform data. Platforms would have to provide specified data under FTC privacy and cybersecurity safeguards. Sensitive data like private messages, biometric data, and precise location would be excluded. The FTC could enforce violations, and NSF and the FTC would report to Congress within 24 months and yearly after that. Platforms must also notify users about required data sharing under rules the Commission makes.
More platform transparency for ads and content
If enacted, the bill would make big platforms publish more data and APIs about ads, viral content, moderation, and recommendation systems. Ads would be kept while shown and for one year after last display, and listings must show sponsor, payer, targeting rules, and reach without personal recipient data. Content seen by 10,000+ users or by accounts with 25,000+ followers would go into a public repository with engagement and algorithm notes. Platforms would also report at least every six months on recommender systems and publish moderation statistics under FTC rules issued within one year.
Which platforms are covered
If enacted, the bill would say which online services must follow the rules. Platforms would be covered if they let users make accounts, host user-created content, and mainly serve user interaction and ads. Platforms must have at least 50,000,000 unique U.S. monthly users in most months to be covered.
Protections for journalists and researchers
If enacted, the bill would protect journalists and researchers from platform lawsuits when they collect publicly available information using allowed digital methods for public-interest work. They would have to use covered methods, limit use to the stated public purpose, and take reasonable privacy steps. The safe harbor would not cover collecting certain sensitive things, like biometric data, genetic data, obscene images, or known nonconsensual intimate images.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
DE • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]
LA • R
Sponsored 12/1/2025
Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA]
PA • R
Sponsored 1/8/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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