| 10 | 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 |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A bill to be entitled 1 |
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| 15 | 15 | | An act relating to transparency in social media; 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | creating s. 501.20411, F.S.; providing a short title; 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | providing legislative findings; providing definitions; 4 |
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| 18 | 18 | | requiring foreign-adversary-owned entities operating 5 |
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| 19 | 19 | | social media platforms in the state to publicly 6 |
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| 20 | 20 | | disclose specified information in a certain manner; 7 |
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| 21 | 21 | | requiring foreign-adversary-owned entities operating 8 |
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| 22 | 22 | | social media platforms to implement a user 9 |
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| 23 | 23 | | verification system for certain entities; providing 10 |
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| 24 | 24 | | penalties; requiring enforcement by the Department of 11 |
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| 25 | | - | Legal Affairs; providing severability; providing an 12 |
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| 26 | | - | effective date. 13 |
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| 27 | | - | 14 |
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| 28 | | - | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15 |
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| 29 | | - | 16 |
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| 30 | | - | Section 1. Section 50 1.20411, Florida Statutes, is created 17 |
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| 31 | | - | to read: 18 |
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| 32 | | - | 501.20411 Transparency in Social Media Act. — 19 |
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| 33 | | - | (1) This section may be cited as the "Transparency in 20 |
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| 34 | | - | Social Media Act." 21 |
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| 35 | | - | (2) The Legislature finds that: 22 |
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| 36 | | - | (a) Social media platforms play a significant role in 23 |
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| 37 | | - | shaping public discourse and opinion. 24 |
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| 38 | | - | (b) Algorithms used by social media platforms can 25 |
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| 25 | + | Legal Affairs; providing an effective date. 12 |
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| 26 | + | 13 |
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| 27 | + | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 |
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| 28 | + | 15 |
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| 29 | + | Section 1. Section 501.20411, Florida Statute s, is created 16 |
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| 30 | + | to read: 17 |
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| 31 | + | 501.20411 Transparency in Social Media Act. — 18 |
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| 32 | + | (1) This section may be cited as the "Transparency in 19 |
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| 33 | + | Social Media Act." 20 |
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| 34 | + | (2) The Legislature finds that: 21 |
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| 35 | + | (a) Social media platforms play a significant role in 22 |
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| 36 | + | shaping public discou rse and opinion. 23 |
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| 37 | + | (b) Algorithms used by social media platforms can 24 |
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| 38 | + | influence user behavior and content visibility. 25 |
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| 51 | | - | influence user behavior and content visibility. 26 |
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| 52 | | - | (c) Transparency in the functioning of such algorithms and 27 |
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| 53 | | - | in political and social advertising is vital for safeg uarding 28 |
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| 54 | | - | democratic values and user privacy. 29 |
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| 55 | | - | (d) Ownership of social media platforms by foreign 30 |
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| 56 | | - | entities can raise concerns regarding foreign influence and data 31 |
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| 57 | | - | security. 32 |
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| 58 | | - | (3) For purposes of this section, the term: 33 |
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| 59 | | - | (a) "Algorithm" has the same meanin g as in s. 501.2041(1). 34 |
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| 60 | | - | (b) "Foreign-adversary-owned entity" or "entity" means a 35 |
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| 61 | | - | social media company that is more than 15 -percent owned or 36 |
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| 62 | | - | controlled by nationals, governments, or corporations domiciled, 37 |
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| 63 | | - | incorporated, or otherwise holding residence in a country 38 |
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| 64 | | - | designated as a foreign adversary under 15 C.F.R. s. 7.4. As 39 |
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| 65 | | - | used in this paragraph, the term "owned or controlled" means 40 |
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| 66 | | - | that a national, government, or corporation designated as a 41 |
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| 67 | | - | foreign adversary has power: 42 |
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| 68 | | - | 1. Over the election of the directors, or of individuals 43 |
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| 69 | | - | exercising similar functions, for the entity; or 44 |
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| 70 | | - | 2. To exercise influence over the management of the 45 |
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| 71 | | - | entity. 46 |
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| 72 | | - | (c) "Social media platform" means a public online service 47 |
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| 73 | | - | that allows users to create and share or participate in social 48 |
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| 74 | | - | networking. 49 |
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| 75 | | - | (d) "Social or political advertising" means any 50 |
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| 51 | + | (c) Transparency in the functioning of such algorithms and 26 |
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| 52 | + | in political and social advertising is vital for safeguarding 27 |
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| 53 | + | democratic values and user privacy. 28 |
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| 54 | + | (d) Ownership of social media platforms by foreign 29 |
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| 55 | + | entities can raise concerns regarding foreign influence and data 30 |
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| 56 | + | security. 31 |
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| 57 | + | (3) For purposes of this section, the term: 32 |
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| 58 | + | (a) "Algorithm" has the same meaning as in s. 501.2041(1). 33 |
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| 59 | + | (b) "Foreign-adversary-owned entity" or "entity" means a 34 |
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| 60 | + | social media company that is more than 15 -percent owned or 35 |
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| 61 | + | controlled by nationals, governments, or corporations domiciled, 36 |
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| 62 | + | incorporated, or otherwise holding residence in a country 37 |
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| 63 | + | designated as a foreign adversary under 15 C.F.R. s. 7.4. As 38 |
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| 64 | + | used in this paragraph, the term "owned or controlled" means 39 |
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| 65 | + | that a national, government, or corporation designated as a 40 |
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| 66 | + | foreign adversary has power: 41 |
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| 67 | + | 1. Over the election of the directors, or of individuals 42 |
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| 68 | + | exercising similar functions, for the entity; or 43 |
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| 69 | + | 2. To exercise influence over the management of the 44 |
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| 70 | + | entity. 45 |
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| 71 | + | (c) "Social media platform" means a public online service 46 |
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| 72 | + | that allows users to create and share or participate in social 47 |
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| 73 | + | networking. 48 |
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| 74 | + | (d) "Social or political advertising" means any 49 |
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| 75 | + | advertisement on a social media platform that discusses social 50 |
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| 88 | | - | advertisement on a social media platform that: 51 |
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| 89 | | - | 1. References, or advocates for or against, a candidate 52 |
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| 90 | | - | for political office, a political or executive offici al, a 53 |
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| 91 | | - | political party, or a political action committee; 54 |
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| 92 | | - | 2. References, or advocates for or against, an outcome or 55 |
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| 93 | | - | position in any election, referendum, ballot initiative, or 56 |
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| 94 | | - | voter registration campaign; 57 |
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| 95 | | - | 3. References, advocates, or discusses matters of public 58 |
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| 96 | | - | policy, including, but not limited to, matters of foreign policy 59 |
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| 97 | | - | or diplomacy, healthcare, civil rights, economic matters, 60 |
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| 98 | | - | governance structures, or any other matters that pertain to 61 |
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| 99 | | - | governmental policymaking; 62 |
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| 100 | | - | 4. Includes messaging, language, or graphics that a 63 |
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| 101 | | - | reasonable person might believe seeks to influence public 64 |
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| 102 | | - | opinion, debate, or discussion; or 65 |
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| 103 | | - | 5. Is otherwise regulated as political advertising. 66 |
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| 104 | | - | (4)(a) Each foreign -adversary-owned entity operating a 67 |
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| 105 | | - | social media platform in the state m ust publicly disclose the 68 |
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| 106 | | - | core functional elements of the social media platform's content 69 |
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| 107 | | - | curation and algorithms. 70 |
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| 108 | | - | (b) The disclosure must identify: 71 |
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| 109 | | - | 1. The factors that influence content ranking and 72 |
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| 110 | | - | visibility. 73 |
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| 111 | | - | 2. Measures taken to address misinforma tion and harmful 74 |
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| 112 | | - | content. 75 |
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| 88 | + | or political issues or is intended to influence public opinion 51 |
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| 89 | + | or electoral outcomes. 52 |
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| 90 | + | (4)(a) Each foreign -adversary-owned entity operating a 53 |
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| 91 | + | social media platform in the state must publicly disclose the 54 |
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| 92 | + | core functional elements of the social media platform's content 55 |
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| 93 | + | curation and algorithms. 56 |
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| 94 | + | (b) The disclosure must identify: 57 |
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| 95 | + | 1. The factors that influence content ranking and 58 |
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| 96 | + | visibility. 59 |
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| 97 | + | 2. Measures taken to address misinformation and harmful 60 |
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| 98 | + | content. 61 |
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| 99 | + | 3. The process of personalization and targeting of 62 |
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| 100 | + | content. 63 |
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| 101 | + | (5) Each foreign-adversary-owned entity operating a social 64 |
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| 102 | + | media platform must make publicly available the source code of 65 |
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| 103 | + | its algorithms through an open -source license. 66 |
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| 104 | + | (6)(a) Each foreign -adversary-owned entity operating a 67 |
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| 105 | + | social media platform must implement a user verification system 68 |
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| 106 | + | for each user and organization that purchases advertisements 69 |
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| 107 | + | concerning social or political issue s. The system must verify 70 |
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| 108 | + | key identifying information, including citizenship, residency, 71 |
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| 109 | + | and age of the user or the individuals that own the 72 |
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| 110 | + | organization, as applicable. 73 |
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| 111 | + | (b) Once verified, the identity of the purchaser of each 74 |
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| 112 | + | social or political adverti sement must be disclosed with the 75 |
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| 125 | | - | 3. The process of personalization and targeting of 76 |
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| 126 | | - | content. 77 |
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| 127 | | - | (5) Each foreign-adversary-owned entity operating a social 78 |
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| 128 | | - | media platform must make publicly available the source code of 79 |
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| 129 | | - | its algorithms through an open -source license. 80 |
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| 130 | | - | (6)(a) Each foreign -adversary-owned entity operating a 81 |
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| 131 | | - | social media platform must implement a user verification system 82 |
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| 132 | | - | for each user and organization that purchases advertisements 83 |
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| 133 | | - | concerning social or political issues. The system must verify 84 |
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| 134 | | - | key identifying information, including citizenship, residency, 85 |
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| 135 | | - | and age of the user or the individuals that own the 86 |
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| 136 | | - | organization, as applicable. 87 |
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| 137 | | - | (b) Once verified, the identity of the purchaser of each 88 |
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| 138 | | - | social or political advertisement must be disclosed with the 89 |
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| 139 | | - | advertisement. 90 |
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| 140 | | - | (7)(a) A foreign-adversary-owned entity operating a social 91 |
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| 141 | | - | media platform that violates this section is liable up to 92 |
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| 142 | | - | $10,000 for each discrete violation. 93 |
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| 143 | | - | (b) The Department of Legal Affairs shall enforce this 94 |
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| 144 | | - | section. 95 |
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| 145 | | - | Section 2. If any provision of this act or its application 96 |
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| 146 | | - | to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity 97 |
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| 147 | | - | does not affect other provisions or applications of this act 98 |
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| 148 | | - | which can be given effect without the invalid provision or 99 |
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| 149 | | - | application, and to this end t he provisions of this act are 100 |
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| 150 | | - | |
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| 151 | | - | CS/HB 1541, Engrossed 1 2024 |
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| 152 | | - | |
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| 153 | | - | |
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| 154 | | - | |
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| 155 | | - | CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. |
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| 156 | | - | hb1541-02-e1 |
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| 157 | | - | Page 5 of 5 |
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| 158 | | - | 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 |
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| 159 | | - | |
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| 160 | | - | |
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| 161 | | - | |
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| 162 | | - | severable. 101 |
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| 163 | | - | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 102 |
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| 125 | + | advertisement. 76 |
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| 126 | + | (7)(a) A foreign-adversary-owned entity operating a social 77 |
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| 127 | + | media platform that violates this section is liable up to 78 |
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| 128 | + | $10,000 for each discrete violation. 79 |
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| 129 | + | (b) The Department of Legal Affairs shall enforce this 80 |
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| 130 | + | section. 81 |
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| 131 | + | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 82 |
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