TERMS Act boosts transparency and tackles discrimination by online platforms 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) reintroduced the Transparency in Enforcement, Restricting, and Monitoring of Services (TERMS) Act, which will prevent online service providers from weaponizing broadly worded terms of service agreements to silence customers and deny them access to essential business technologies over their political beliefs. The limited number of providers for some online services has forced conservative organizations to decide between conforming to restrictive woke demands or exercising their freedom of speech.

The legislation requires online service providers like Slack and Eventbrite to clarify ambiguous, discriminatory terms of service policies and notify users before restricting access to a product based on a terms of service violations. The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.). A House companion bill has been introduced by Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas).

“Big Tech censorship poses a serious threat to free speech in the U.S. and my Committee has previously uncovered evidence of these platforms using vague terms of service agreements to silence conservative voices,” said Sen. Cruz. “These discriminatory policies have cost businesses thousands of dollars in lost revenue and forced conservatives to choose between self-censorship or ceasing operations altogether. The TERMS Act will make online service providers be upfront and transparent about their political biases so customers can make more informed decisions about where they do business.”

“I am proud to partner with Senator Cruz to push back on big tech companies who have repeatedly weaponized vague terms of service to remove conservative voices and organizations from their platforms,” said Rep. Goldman. “The TERMS Act will require companies to be significantly more transparent about their policies, allowing all American consumers to make more informed decisions about the products and services they use.”

The TERMS Act, S. 2010, has the support of Independent Women’s Forum, Family Policy Alliance, American Principles Project, The Danbury Institute, Bull Moose Project, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), and Parents Defending Education Action.

Read the full text of the bill here.

BACKGROUND:

In April 2024, Sen. Cruz released an investigative report revealing how online service providers like Slack, Eventbrite, and Bonterra/EveryAction weaponized their terms of service to deny conservative organizations access to essential business technology. The investigation revealed how Big Tech employed a roadmap—written by left-wing activists at the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League—to silence conservative organizations for ordinary political speech. The companies alleged their conservative customers’ political views violated opaque terms of service agreements. As a result of these sudden and unappealable removals, conservative groups lost out on thousands of dollars in revenue and access to important services used for advocacy and business development. Read the full report here. Earlier this year, under a threat of subpoena from Chairman Cruz, Bonterra agreed to turn over documents revealing how its predecessor EveryAction silenced conservative-aligned nonprofits wanting to use its product. Click here to read more.

Sen. Cruz originally introduced the TERMS Act, alongside Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), during the last Congress.

The TERMS Act would:

• Require the public disclosure of well-defined acceptable use policies and advance written notice when these policies change;
• Require advance written notice of termination or cancellation that explains how the user violated the acceptable use policy; and
• Require publicly posted annual reports detailing actions taken to enforce the acceptable use policy.

For additional details on the TERMS Act, click here.

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