CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 1 of 10
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. 770.02, F.S.; requiring that certain 4
articles or broadcasts be removed from the Internet 5
within a specified period to limit damages for 6
defamation; amending s. 770.04, F.S.; providing 7
persons in certain positions relating to newspapers 8
with immunity for defamation if such persons exercise 9
due care to prevent utterance of such a statement; 10
requiring removal of defamatory statements from the 11
Internet in certain circumstances; amending s. 770.05, 12
F.S.; providing a definition; providing venue for 13
damages for a defamation or privacy tort based on 14
material broadcast over radio or television; providing 15
venue for damages for a defamation or privacy tort 16
based on material published, exhibited, or uttered on 17
the Internet; creating s. 770.107, F.S.; providing for 18
a motion for a veracity hearing in a defamation or 19
privacy tort action; specifying determinations to be 20
made on such a motion; providing a timeframe for a 21
hearing; limiting the court's review of such a motion; 22
specifying that a certain finding may not be made in 23
ruling on such a motion; creating s. 770.11, F.S.; 24
providing a rebuttable presumption that a publisher of 25
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 2 of 10
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 false statement acted with actual mali ce in certain 26
circumstances; creating s. 770.15, F.S.; providing a 27
definition; providing that a person who uses 28
artificial intelligence to create or edit any form of 29
media in a certain manner is subject to liability in 30
certain circumstances; incorporating certain 31
standards; reenacting ss. 770.06, 770.07, and 770.08, 32
F.S., relating to adverse judgment in any jurisdiction 33
as a bar to additional action, cause of action and 34
time of accrual, and limitation on recovery of 35
damages, respectively, to incorporate the amendment 36
made to s. 770.05, F.S., in references thereto; 37
providing severability; providing an effective date. 38
39
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40
41
Section 1. Section 770.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to 42
read: 43
770.02 Correction, apology, or retraction by newspaper or 44
broadcast station.— 45
(1) If it appears upon the trial that said article or 46
broadcast was published in good faith; that its falsity was due 47
to an honest mistake of the facts; that there were reasonable 48
grounds for believing that the statements in said article or 49
broadcast were true; and that, within the period of time 50
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 3 of 10
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
specified in subsection (2), a full and fair correction, 51
apology, or retraction was, in the case of a newspaper or 52
periodical, published in the same editions or corresponding 53
issues of the newspaper or periodical in which said article 54
appeared and in as conspicuous place and type as said original 55
article or, in the case of a broadcast, the correction, apology, 56
or retraction was broadcast at a com parable time, then the 57
plaintiff in such case shall recover only actual damages. For 58
purposes of this section, if such an article or a broadcast has 59
been published on the Internet, the article or broadcast must be 60
permanently removed from the Internet with in the time period 61
provided in paragraph (2)(a) in order to limit recovery to 62
actual damages as provided in this section. 63
(2) Full and fair correction, apology, or retraction shall 64
be made: 65
(a) In the case of a broadcast or a daily or weekly 66
newspaper or periodical, within 10 days after service of 67
notice.; 68
(b) In the case of a newspaper or periodical published 69
semimonthly, within 20 days after service of notice .; 70
(c) In the case of a newspaper or periodical published 71
monthly, within 45 days after se rvice of notice.; and 72
(d) In the case of a newspaper or periodical published 73
less frequently than monthly, in the next issue, provided notice 74
is served no later than 45 days prior to such publication. 75
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 4 of 10
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
Section 2. Section 770.04, Florida Statutes, is a mended to 76
read: 77
770.04 Civil liability of certain media outlets radio or 78
television broadcasting stations ; care to prevent publication or 79
utterance required.— 80
(1) The owner, licensee, or operator of a radio or 81
television broadcasting station or a newspaper, and the agents 82
or employees of any such owner, licensee , or operator, shall not 83
be liable for any damages for any defamatory statement published 84
or uttered in or as a part of a radio or television broadcast or 85
newspaper article, by one other than suc h owner, licensee, or 86
operator, or general agent or employees thereof, unless it is 87
shall be alleged and proved by the complaining party , that such 88
owner, licensee, operator, general agent , or employee, has 89
failed to exercise due care to prevent the public ation or 90
utterance of such statement in such broadcasts or newspaper 91
articles, provided, however, the exercise of due care shall be 92
construed to include the bona fide compliance with any federal 93
law or the regulation of any federal regulatory agency. 94
(2) When an owner, a licensee, or an operator described in 95
subsection (1) publishes a defamatory statement on the Internet 96
with no knowledge of falsity of the statement and thereafter 97
receives notice that such statement has been found in a judicial 98
proceeding to be false, or receives notice of facts that would 99
cause a reasonable person to conclude that such statement was 100
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 5 of 10
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
false, and the owner, licensee, or operator fails to take 101
reasonable steps to permanently remove the statement and any 102
related report from th e Internet, the continued appearance of 103
such statement or report on the Internet after the notice shall 104
be a new publication for purpose of the statute of limitations, 105
and the owner, licensee, or operator shall not be entitled to a 106
fair reporting privilege for such new publication. 107
Section 3. Section 770.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to 108
read: 109
770.05 Limitation of choice of venue. — 110
(1) As used in this chapter, the term "defamation or 111
privacy tort" means libel, slander, invasion of privacy, or any 112
other tort founded upon any single publication, exhibition, or 113
utterance, such as any one edition of a newspaper, book, or 114
magazine, any one presentation to an audience, any one broadcast 115
over radio or television, any one exhibition of a motion 116
picture, or any one publication, exhibition, or utterance on the 117
Internet. 118
(2) A No person may not shall have more than one choice of 119
venue for damages for a defamation or privacy tort libel or 120
slander, invasion of privacy, or any other tort founded upon any 121
single publication, exhibition, or utterance, such as any one 122
edition of a newspaper, book, or magazine, any one presentation 123
to an audience, any one broadcast over radio or television, or 124
any one exhibition of a motion picture . Recovery in any action 125
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 6 of 10
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
shall include all damages for any such tort suffered by the 126
plaintiff in all jurisdictions. 127
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 128
or any other statute providing for venue, when: 129
(a) Damages for a defamation or privacy tort are based on 130
material broadcast over radio or television, venue is proper in 131
any county in which the material was accessed. 132
(b) Damages for a defamation or privacy tort are based on 133
material published, exhibited, or uttered on the Internet, venue 134
is proper in any county in the state. 135
Section 4. Section 770.107, Florida Statutes, is created 136
to read: 137
770.107 Veracity hearings in defamation or privacy tort 138
actions.— 139
(1) Upon motion by any party to a cause of action brought 140
under this chapter, the court shall conduct an evidentiary 141
hearing to determine: 142
(a) Whether a statement is a statement of fact or an 143
opinion. 144
(b) The veracity of any statement of fact that constitutes 145
the basis for the cause of action. 146
(2) Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, the court 147
shall hear the motion within 60 days after service of the 148
motion. 149
(3) The court's review of the motion shall be limited 150
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 7 of 10
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
solely to determining whether a statement is a statement of fact 151
or an opinion and the veracity of the statement of fact at issue 152
in the underlying cause of action. 153
(4) In ruling upon a motion for determination of veracity, 154
the court shall issue no findings regarding the following 155
matters at issue in the underlying cause of action: 156
(a) Whether the statement of fact constitutes defamation 157
per se, defamation per quod, or a privacy tort; 158
(b) Whether the plaintiff in the cause of action qualifies 159
as a public figure or limited public figure; or 160
(c) Whether the defendant in the cause of action acted 161
negligently, recklessly, intent ionally, or with actual malice. 162
Section 5. Section 770.11, Florida Statutes, is created to 163
read: 164
770.11 Presumption regarding anonymous sources when the 165
statement made about a public figure is false. —If a public 166
figure plaintiff can establish that a published statement is 167
false and that the publisher relied on an anonymous source for 168
the statement, there is a rebuttable presumption that the 169
publisher acted with actual malice in publishing the statement. 170
Section 6. Section 770.15, Florida Statutes, is created to 171
read: 172
770.15 Using artificial intelligence to place person in 173
false light.— 174
(1) As used in this section, the term "artificial 175
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 8 of 10
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
intelligence" means the theory and development of computer 176
systems that are designed to simulate human intellig ence through 177
machine learning and perform tasks that would normally require 178
human involvement, such as visual perception, speech 179
recognition, decisionmaking, and translation between languages. 180
(2) A person who uses artificial intelligence to create or 181
edit any form of media so that it attributes something false to 182
or leads a reasonable viewer to believe something false about 183
another person is subject to liability if all of the following 184
apply: 185
(a) The media is published, distributed, or otherwise 186
placed before the public. 187
(b) The false light in which the other person was placed 188
would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. 189
(c) The person had knowledge of or acted in reckless 190
disregard as to the false implications of the media. 191
(3) This section incorporates the standards set forth 192
under chapter 770 for defamation causes of action to the extent 193
necessary. 194
Section 7. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 195
made by this act to section 770.05, Florida Statutes, in a 196
reference thereto, sect ion 770.06, Florida Statutes, is 197
reenacted to read: 198
770.06 Adverse judgment in any jurisdiction a bar to 199
additional action.—A judgment in any jurisdiction for or against 200
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 9 of 10
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
the plaintiff upon the substantive merits of any action for 201
damages founded upon a single publication or exhibition or 202
utterance as described in s. 770.05 shall bar any other action 203
for damages by the same plaintiff against the same defendant 204
founded upon the same publication or exhibition or utterance. 205
Section 8. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 206
made by this act to section 770.05, Florida Statutes, in a 207
reference thereto, section 770.07, Florida Statutes, is 208
reenacted to read: 209
770.07 Cause of action, time of accrual. —The cause of 210
action for damages founded upon a sing le publication or 211
exhibition or utterance, as described in s. 770.05, shall be 212
deemed to have accrued at the time of the first publication or 213
exhibition or utterance thereof in this state. 214
Section 9. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 215
made by this act to section 770.05, Florida Statutes, in a 216
reference thereto, section 770.08, Florida Statutes, is 217
reenacted to read: 218
770.08 Limitation on recovery of damages. —No person shall 219
have more than one choice of venue for damages for libel founded 220
upon a single publication or exhibition or utterance, as 221
described in s. 770.05, and upon his or her election in any one 222
of his or her choices of venue, then the person shall be bound 223
to recover there all damages allowed him or her. 224
Section 10. If any provision of this act or its 225
CS/HB 757 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0757-01-c1
Page 10 of 10
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
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 226
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of 227
this act which can be given effect without the invalid provision 228
or application, and to this end the pr ovisions of this act are 229
severable. 230
Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 231