# Civil Rights Modernization Act of 2021

This bill addresses how online platforms can target advertisements to users based on their personal characteristics. Right now, websites and social media companies use sophisticated algorithms to show ads to specific groups of people—for example, showing housing ads only to certain races or age groups, or showing job postings only to men. The bill says that when platforms do this kind of targeted advertising, they can't hide behind a legal protection called "Section 230" that normally shields internet companies from liability for what happens on their sites.

The practical effect is that civil rights laws—the rules that prevent discrimination based on race, religion, gender, disability, age, and other protected characteristics—now clearly apply to how platforms target advertisements. If a company uses Facebook or Google to advertise an apartment only to white people, or a job only to men, or a loan only to people without disabilities, those companies could potentially face legal action under existing civil rights laws. The same goes for political ads designed to suppress voting among certain groups. Previously, platforms could argue that Section 230 protected them from these kinds of claims, but this bill closes that loophole specifically for discriminatory ad targeting.

This matters to everyday people in two ways. First, if you're a business owner, you need to be careful about how you target ads—you can't use a platform's targeting tools to discriminate, even if the platform makes it easy to do so. Second, if you're a consumer, this gives you and civil rights agencies more tools to challenge discriminatory advertising practices. The bill doesn't ban targeted advertising entirely, just the kind that discriminates based on protected characteristics. It essentially says that internet platforms can't use their legal immunity as an excuse to enable discrimination in advertising.

Civil Rights Modernization Act of 2021

Clarke, Yvette D.

Civil Rights Modernization Act of 2021 This bill specifies that the federal liability protection that a provider of an interactive computer service (e.g., a social media company) receives for content provided by third parties does not apply to certain advertisements that target users who are part of a protected class or have a protected status. Specifically, the liability protection shall not apply to investigations, claims, or charges arising under civil rights laws if the provider (1) receives consideration (e.g., money) for publishing or delivering an advertisement; and (2) uses an algorithm, software application, or other information technology to target the advertisement to a user who is part of a protected class or has a protected status.