PRIA Logo™
119-hr-6266119th CongressWALLET

Algorithm Accountability Act

Sponsored By: Representative Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3]

Introduced

Summary

Duty of care for recommendation-based algorithms. This bill would require social media platforms to use reasonable care when designing, testing, deploying, operating, and maintaining recommendation systems to prevent reasonably foreseeable bodily injury or death.

Show full summary
  • Users and families: People harmed by content recommended by an algorithm could sue for compensatory and punitive damages if the harm was reasonably foreseeable and tied to the recommendation.
  • Platforms and startups: Covered platforms would lose Section 230(c)(1) liability protection for violations and face civil liability; services with fewer than 1,000,000 registered users are excluded from the "social media platform" definition.
  • Contracts and courts: Predispute arbitration agreements and predispute joint-action waivers would be invalid for these claims so courts, not arbitrators, decide scope and liability.
  • Legal limits and scope: The duty excludes purely chronological feeds and initial search results and cannot be enforced based on a speaker's viewpoint.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Easier to sue platforms for algorithm harms

If enacted, injured people could sue a platform in federal court. Claims would need to show a recommendation algorithm helped cause the harm and it was reasonably foreseeable. Plaintiffs could seek compensatory and punitive damages. Platforms that violate the duty would lose Section 230(c)(1) immunity for these claims. Pre-dispute arbitration and class-action waivers would not apply. Courts, not arbitrators, would decide if this rule applies. Enforcement could not turn on the viewpoint of protected speech. It would not block other federal or state laws that protect users as much or more.

New safety rules for social media algorithms

This bill would set safety rules for social media recommendation algorithms. Covered platforms would be for-profit services with 1,000,000+ users. Email, direct-messaging apps, teleconferencing, e-commerce review sites, audio streaming, and news or sports sites would be excluded. It targets systems that rank or recommend content using a user's data. Platforms would need to use reasonable care to prevent foreseeable injury or death tied to their algorithms. Purely chronological feeds and the first page of user search results would be exempt.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3]

UT • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. McClain Delaney, April [D-MD-6]

    MD • D

    Sponsored 11/21/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation