Bill Overview
Title: Political BIAS Emails Act of 2022
Description: This bill makes it unlawful for commercial email service providers to use a filtering algorithm to apply a label to an email sent to an email account from a political campaign unless the owner or user of the account took action to apply such label.
Sponsors: Rep. Lesko, Debbie [R-AZ-8]
Target Audience
Population: Email Users
Estimated Size: 250000000
- The bill targets actions by commercial email service providers.
- Terms like 'filtering algorithm' and 'emails' suggest it affects anyone using email services.
- Political campaigns are specifically mentioned, impacting political organizations.
Reasoning
- Email users in the US number around 250 million, but only a portion may have experienced any algorithmic bias in email sorting.
- The policy is targeted, meaning it primarily affects political campaigns and people who actively engage with political emails.
- A portion of email users might see no marked difference as they do not frequently interact with politically related content in their email.
- The policy might be more beneficial in well-educated, politically active sectors of the population where email filters play a noticeable role.
Simulated Interviews
digital marketing specialist (New York, NY)
Age: 28 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 7
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 14/20
Statement of Opinion:
- I support the policy because I want to ensure I'm seeing all political communication without filters deciding what's important.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 2 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 10 | 9 | 7 |
| Year 20 | 9 | 7 |
software engineer (San Francisco, CA)
Age: 42 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 8
Duration of Impact: 5.0 years
Commonness: 18/20
Statement of Opinion:
- I think it's fine as is. This policy may not affect my experience greatly since I use filters heavily for all types of emails, not just political.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 2 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 5 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 20 | 8 | 8 |
homemaker (Houston, TX)
Age: 36 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 5
Duration of Impact: 1.0 years
Commonness: 20/20
Statement of Opinion:
- I don't focus on political emails; I doubt this will change my email experience.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Year 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Year 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Year 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Year 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 5 | 5 |
political campaign manager (Madison, WI)
Age: 50 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 20.0 years
Commonness: 13/20
Statement of Opinion:
- This policy could aid campaigns like ours by ensuring our messages are reaching their intended audiences without unexpected filtering.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 9 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 9 | 6 |
| Year 20 | 9 | 6 |
student (Seattle, WA)
Age: 23 | Gender: other
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 1.0 years
Commonness: 19/20
Statement of Opinion:
- This policy seems irrelevant to me as I rarely engage with political content via email.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 20 | 6 | 6 |
retired (Miami, FL)
Age: 60 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 7
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 15/20
Statement of Opinion:
- I appreciate the idea—it might ensure I don't miss emails from local candidates I want to follow.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 10 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 20 | 8 | 7 |
freelancer (Austin, TX)
Age: 33 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 8
Duration of Impact: 5.0 years
Commonness: 16/20
Statement of Opinion:
- I like the current email filtering—it helps me streamline my inbox. The policy might just create more clutter.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 2 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Year 10 | 7 | 8 |
| Year 20 | 7 | 8 |
graphic designer (Chicago, IL)
Age: 29 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 17/20
Statement of Opinion:
- I worry about political emails due to privacy concerns, so I'm cautious of any changes to how they're filtered.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 20 | 6 | 6 |
small business owner (Phoenix, AZ)
Age: 47 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 5
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 12/20
Statement of Opinion:
- Policies that might help political campaigns communicate more effectively benefit small business owners like me.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 2 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 10 | 8 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 8 | 5 |
non-profit coordinator (Denver, CO)
Age: 40 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 7
Duration of Impact: 15.0 years
Commonness: 14/20
Statement of Opinion:
- This might simplify how political emails are dealt with, which is a large part of my job.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 2 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Year 5 | 9 | 7 |
| Year 10 | 9 | 7 |
| Year 20 | 9 | 7 |
Cost Estimates
Year 1: $50000000 (Low: $30000000, High: $70000000)
Year 2: $45000000 (Low: $25000000, High: $65000000)
Year 3: $45000000 (Low: $25000000, High: $65000000)
Year 5: $40000000 (Low: $20000000, High: $60000000)
Year 10: $35000000 (Low: $15000000, High: $55000000)
Year 100: $30000000 (Low: $10000000, High: $50000000)
Key Considerations
- The act ensures transparency and fairness in how political emails are delivered to users.
- Business models of email service providers might have to adapt, which could lead to higher operational costs.
- Consumer engagement might increase if users feel emails are treated impartially, but operational complexities could arise in distinguishing political emails.