SFV Today

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Congressman Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and U.S. Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL) introduced the Language-Inclusive Support and Transparency for Online Services (LISTOS) Act to improve multilingual large language models, automated decision-making systems, and content moderation practices online to better protect non-English speaking communities. The LISTOS Act requires online platforms to consistently communicate and enforce their policies across languages and transparently report on the processes used to enforce policies. Critically, the bill also authorizes funding to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to research the prevalence and impact of online hate, abuse, and misleading or false information in languages other than English.

“Time and again, social media platforms have repeatedly fallen short of moderating multilingual content. Disinformation is a danger to the non-English speaking community and must be taken seriously to protect our country and our democracy,” said Congressman Cárdenas. “I’m proud to introduce the LISTOS Act to require platforms to consistently communicate and enforce their policies across languages and transparently report on the processes used to enforce policies.. This bill also authorizes funding to research the prevalence and impact of online hate, abuse, and misleading or false information in languages other than English. If we want to seriously address the problem of disinformation, then we must make the necessary investments to curb its spread and this bill does just that. ”

“In recent elections, we have seen malicious actors attempt to target non-English speakers with misinformation and disinformation through social media channels. That is why I am proud to co-introduce the Language-Inclusive Support and Transparency for Online Services (LISTOS) Act, an initiative aimed at rectifying the issue of online platforms overlooking non-English languages and harming minority communities through the perpetuation of misinformation and disinformation regarding elections and other vital issues while also combating online hate and abuse. It’s time we take this vital step toward a more inclusive and responsible digital landscape,” said Congressman Soto. 

“Despite having a global user base that speaks multiple languages, tech platforms do not make adequate investments to protect families who speak Spanish and other non-English languages online,” said Senator Luján. “I’m proud to introduce the LISTOS Act to require platforms to provide more transparency of multilingual AI models and staff used to moderate content, and enforce their policies consistently across languages. This legislation also provides much-needed funding to research the negative impacts that follow when hate and disinformation is spread online, ensuring minority communities can safely use social media platforms – regardless of the language they speak at home.”

“Social media companies have been tight-lipped about what they’re doing to stop fraud in languages other than English,” said FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya. “Too often, fraudsters prey on people for whom English is a second language, including a lot of older Americans. This bill will help protect everyone against fraud, no matter what language they speak at home.” 

The Senate companion was introduced by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). The bill is supported by FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and is endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Equis Research, Free Press, National Hispanic Media Coalition, and Media Matters Action Network.

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

Original source can be found here.