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Senate Bill 4965
116th Congress(2019-2020)
Public Servant Protection Act of 2020
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in Senate on Dec 3, 2020
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Introduced in Senate 
Dec 3, 2020
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Introduced in Senate(Dec 3, 2020)
Dec 3, 2020
No Linkage Found
About Linkage
Multiple bills can contain the same text. This could be an identical bill in the opposite chamber or a smaller bill with a section embedded in a larger bill.
Bill Sponsor regularly scans bill texts to find sections that are contained in other bill texts. When a matching section is found, the bills containing that section can be viewed by clicking "View Bills" within the bill text section.
Bill Sponsor is currently only finding exact word-for-word section matches. In a future release, partial matches will be included.
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S. 4965 (Introduced-in-Senate)


116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4965


To regulate the posting of personal information of government officials on the internet, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

December 3, 2020

Mr. Cotton (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Boozman, Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. Perdue, and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To regulate the posting of personal information of government officials on the internet, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Public Servant Protection Act of 2020”.

SEC. 2. Privacy of personal information of government officials.

(a) Criminal provision.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 88 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Ҥ 1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials

“(a) Definitions.—In this section:

“(1) GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The term ‘government official’ means—

“(A) any officer or employee described in section 1114; and

“(B) any officer or employee of a State, a political subdivision of a State, or a Tribal government.

“(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘immediate family member’ has the meaning given the term in section 115.

“(3) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘personal information’ means—

“(A) a home address; or

“(B) a home phone number.

“(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession of the United States.

“(5) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘Tribal government’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribal government’ in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).

“(b) Prohibition.—It shall be unlawful for any person to publicly display on the internet the personal information of a government official or an immediate family member of a government official with the intent to cause bodily harm or other injury to an individual.

“(c) Penalty.—A person who violates subsection (b)—

“(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both; and

“(2) if bodily injury or death results from the violation, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.”.

(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for chapter 88 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:


“1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials.”.

(b) Civil provision.—

(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

(A) GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL; PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The terms “government official” and “personal information” have the meanings given those terms in section 1802 of title 18, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).

(B) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term “immediate family member” has the meaning given the term in section 115 of title 18, United States Code.

(C) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The term “interactive computer service” has the meaning given the term in section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230).

(2) WRITTEN DEMAND TO PERSONS.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—A government official may directly, or through an agent designated by the government official, make a written demand to a person to refrain from publicly displaying on the internet the personal information of the government official or an immediate family member of the government official.

(B) EFFECT OF WRITTEN DEMAND.—If a government official makes a written demand to a person under subparagraph (A), the person—

(i) shall, not later than 48 hours after the receipt of the written demand, remove any personal information of the government official or an immediate family member of the government official displayed on the internet by the person; and

(ii) during the 4-year period following the date of the receipt of the written demand, may not publicly display on the internet the personal information of the government official or an immediate family member of the government official.

(3) WRITTEN DEMAND TO INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—A government official may directly, or through an agent designated by the government official, make a written demand to the provider of an interactive computer service to remove the personal information of the government official or an immediate family member of the government official that is publicly displayed on the interactive computer service.

(B) EFFECT OF WRITTEN DEMAND.—If a government official makes a written demand to the provider of an interactive computer service under subparagraph (A), the provider shall, not later than 48 hours after the receipt of the written demand, remove from the interactive computer service any personal information of the government official or an immediate family member of the government official that is publicly displayed on the interactive computer service.

(4) CAUSE OF ACTION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—A government official who is aggrieved by a violation of paragraph (2)(B) or (3)(B) may bring a civil action against the person or the provider of an interactive computer service, respectively, that violated that paragraph in an appropriate district court of the United States.

(B) RELIEF.—In an action under subparagraph (A), the court may award—

(i) injunctive relief;

(ii) if injury or damage results from the violation of paragraph (2)(B) or (3)(B), the greater of—

(I) actual damages; or

(II) $1,000; and

(iii) reasonable costs and attorney's fees.