Luján Reintroduces Legislation to Increase Multilingual Content Moderation Enforcement and Transparency

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, led U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Ron Wyden (D-Oreg.) in introducing 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.

"Despite having a global user base that speaks multiple languages, tech platforms do not make adequate investments in protecting families who speak Spanish and other non-English languages online," said Senator Luján. "I'm proud to reintroduce 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."

"The LISTOS ACT ensures inclusive access to AI and equitable online safety for non-English language communities who are currently underserved by major social media companies," said Senator Padilla. "Investing in multilingual access to information and services will improve online communication and propel innovation while helping to bridge the gap between English and non-English speakers."

"Many non-English speaking communities are being left out of online safety measures, as protections and filters that would apply to content in English, are neglected for other languages, putting many online users at a higher risk of disinformation, scams, and fraud," said Senator Hirono. "I am proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing this legislation to ensure that online platforms are consistent across languages, accessible to non-English speaking communities, and help to protect users against fraud attempts, regardless of their native language."

"Big tech companies are failing millions of people by allowing scams, fraud and other slime to spread in Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese, where the same posts in English would be filtered out. At the same time, tech companies are fueling crises abroad by refusing to invest adequate resources in their overseas offices," said Senator Wyden. "Every community in Oregon and nationwide deserves the same protections from Big Tech as their English-speaking neighbors. I'm proud to join my colleagues to introduce this bill, which would protect online communities, no matter what language they speak."

"Far too often, online platforms create double standards regarding content moderation. While English-language content receives some oversight and clearer enforcement, Spanish and other languages are treated as an afterthought," said Mark Magaña, GreenLatinos Founding President & CEO."Nearly 22% of the entire population in the U.S. spoke a language other than English at home. False and harmful narratives remain unchecked in Spanish and other languages, allowing for disinformation and hate to spread readily throughout our communities. The LISTOS Act is a critical step in addressing these disparities by requiring online platforms to communicate and enforce their policies consistently across languages, increase transparency around their content moderation practices, and allocate resources equitably. Green Latinos is proud to support this measure and looks forward to how this act will provide the foundation for stronger accountability, greater transparency, and a safer online environment for non-English speaking communities."

"Online access to information across languages is essential in today's digital-first world. We do everything online - from finding jobs, paying bills, chatting with friends, catching up on news of the day. The LISTOS Act is a critical step towards ensuring equity of access for non-English users and holding social-media platforms accountable to content moderation policies and practices. Free Press Action Fund is honored to endorse the LISTOS Act at a time when the role of fact-checkers faces undue scrutiny and online manipulation risks further tearing at collective cohesion and democratic engagement," said Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel at Free Press and Free Press Action Fund.

This legislation is endorsed by Free Press, National Hispanic Media Coalition, GreenLatinos, and Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA).

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

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