HB 757 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to defamation, false light, and 2
unauthorized publication of name or likenesses ; 3
amending s. 770.05, F.S.; providing a definition; 4
providing venue for damages for a defamation or 5
privacy tort based on material broadcast over radio or 6
television; providing venue for damages for a 7
defamation or privacy tort based on material 8
published, exhibited, or uttered on the Internet; 9
creating s. 770.11, F.S.; p roviding a rebuttable 10
presumption that a publisher of a false statement 11
acted with actual malice in certain circumstances; 12
creating s. 770.15, F.S.; providing a definition; 13
providing that a person who uses artificial 14
intelligence to create or edit any form of media in a 15
certain manner is subject to liability in certain 16
circumstances; incorporating certain standards; 17
reenacting ss. 770.06, 770.07, and 770.08, F.S., 18
relating to adverse judgment in any jurisdiction as a 19
bar to additional action, cause of actio n and time of 20
accrual, and limitation on recovery of damages, 21
respectively, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 22
770.05, F.S., in references thereto; providing 23
severability; providing an effective date. 24
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HB 757 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26
27
Section 1. Section 770.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to 28
read: 29
770.05 Limitation of choice of venue. — 30
(1) As used in this chapter, the term "defamation or 31
privacy tort" means libel, slander, invasion of privacy, or any 32
other tort founded upon any single publication, exhibition, or 33
utterance, such as any one edition of a newspaper, book, or 34
magazine, any one presentation to an audience, any one broadcast 35
over radio or television, any one exhibition of a motion 36
picture, or any one publ ication, exhibition, or utterance on the 37
Internet. 38
(2) A No person may not shall have more than one choice of 39
venue for damages for a defamation or privacy tort libel or 40
slander, invasion of privacy, or any other tort founded upon any 41
single publication, exhibition, or utterance, such as any one 42
edition of a newspaper, book, or magazine, any one presentation 43
to an audience, any one broadcast over radio or television, or 44
any one exhibition of a motion picture . Recovery in any action 45
shall include all damag es for any such tort suffered by the 46
plaintiff in all jurisdictions. 47
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 48
or any other statute providing for venue, when: 49
(a) Damages for a defamation or privacy tort are based on 50
HB 757 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
material broadcast o ver radio or television, venue is proper in 51
any county in which the material was accessed. 52
(b) Damages for a defamation or privacy tort are based on 53
material published, exhibited, or uttered on the Internet, venue 54
is proper in any county in the state. 55
Section 2. Section 770.11, Florida Statutes, is created to 56
read: 57
770.11 Presumption regarding anonymous sources when the 58
statement made about a public figure is false. —If a public 59
figure plaintiff can establish that a published statement is 60
false and that the publisher relied on an anonymous source for 61
the statement, there is a rebuttable presumption that the 62
publisher acted with actual malice in publishing the statement. 63
Section 3. Section 770.15, Florida Statutes, is created to 64
read: 65
770.15 Using artificial intelligence to place person in 66
false light.— 67
(1) As used in this section, the term "artificial 68
intelligence" means the theory and development of computer 69
systems that are designed to simulate human intelligence through 70
machine learning and perform tasks that would normally require 71
human involvement, such as visual perception, speech 72
recognition, decisionmaking, and translation between languages. 73
(2) A person who uses artificial intelligence to create or 74
edit any form of media so that it attributes something false to 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
or leads a reasonable viewer to believe something false about 76
another person is subject to liability if all of the following 77
apply: 78
(a) The media is published, distributed, or otherwise 79
placed before the public. 80
(b) The false light in which the other person was placed 81
would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. 82
(c) The person had knowledge of or acted in reckless 83
disregard as to the false implications of the media. 84
(3) This section incorporates the standards set forth 85
under chapter 770 for defamation causes of action to the extent 86
necessary. 87
Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 88
made by this act to section 770.05, Florida Statutes, in a 89
reference thereto, section 770.06, Florida Statutes, is 90
reenacted to read: 91
770.06 Adverse judgment in any jurisdiction a bar to 92
additional action.—A judgment in any jurisdiction for or against 93
the plaintiff upon the substantive merits of any action for 94
damages founded upon a single publication or exhibition or 95
utterance as described in s. 770.05 shall bar any other action 96
for damages by the same plaintiff against the same defendant 97
founded upon the same publication o r exhibition or utterance. 98
Section 5. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 99
made by this act to section 770.05, Florida Statutes, in a 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
reference thereto, section 770.07, Florida Statutes, is 101
reenacted to read: 102
770.07 Cause of action, time of accrual.—The cause of 103
action for damages founded upon a single publication or 104
exhibition or utterance, as described in s. 770.05, shall be 105
deemed to have accrued at the time of the first publication or 106
exhibition or utterance thereof in this state. 107
Section 6. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 108
made by this act to section 770.05, Florida Statutes, in a 109
reference thereto, section 770.08, Florida Statutes, is 110
reenacted to read: 111
770.08 Limitation on recovery of damages. —No person shall 112
have more than one choice of venue for damages for libel founded 113
upon a single publication or exhibition or utterance, as 114
described in s. 770.05, and upon his or her election in any one 115
of his or her choices of venue, then the person shall be bound 116
to recover there all damages allowed him or her. 117
Section 7. If any provision of this act or its application 118
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity 119
does not affect other provisions or applications of this act 120
which can be given effect without the invalid provision or 121
application, and to this end the provisions of this act are 122
severable. 123
Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 124