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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3667 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1738
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Richard M. Haggerty
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to the free flow of information.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Richard M. Haggerty30th Middlesex1/17/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/31/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/31/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex3/6/2025Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire2/11/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/11/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/10/2025 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3667 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1738
By Representative Haggerty of Woburn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1738) of
Richard M. Haggerty and others relative to government entities compelling certain service
providers to provide testimony or documents on behalf of a covered journalists. The Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act relative to the free flow of information.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 233 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting after section 83 the following section:-
3 Section 84. Free Flow of Information Act.
4 (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following
5meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-
6 “Covered journalist”, a person who regularly and credibly gathers, prepares, collects,
7photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, or publishes news or information in a
8professional manner that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of
9public interest for dissemination to the public.
10 “Covered service provider”, (a) any person that, by an electronic means, stores,
11processes, or transmits information in order to provide a service to customers of the person; 2 of 4
12 (b) a telecommunications carrier and a provider of an information service; (c) a provider
13of an interactive computer service and an information content provider; (d) a provider of remote
14computing service; or (e) a provider of electronic communication service to the public.
15 “Document”, writings, audio and video recordings, and photographs.
16 “Government entity”, office, agency, board, commission, agent or employee of the
17commonwealth or its subdivisions with the power to issue a subpoena or issue other compulsory
18process.
19 “Journalism”, credible and professional gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing,
20recording, writing, editing, reporting, investigating, or publishing news or information that
21concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for
22dissemination to the public.
23 “Personal account of a covered journalist”, an account with a covered service provider
24used by a covered journalist that is not directly associated with the publication for which the
25covered journalist engages in journalism.
26 “Personal technology device of a covered journalist”, a handheld communications device,
27laptop computer, desktop computer, or other internet-connected device used by a covered
28journalist that is not provided or administered by the publication for which the covered journalist
29engages in journalism.
30 “Protected information”, any information identifying a source who provided information
31as part of engaging in journalism, and any records, contents of a communication, documents, or
32information that a covered journalist obtained or created as part of engaging in journalism. (b) In 3 of 4
33any matter arising under state law, a government entity may not compel a covered journalist to
34disclose protected information, unless a court of competent jurisdiction determines by a
35preponderance of the evidence, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard to the
36covered journalist, that the disclosure of the protected information is necessary to prevent, or to
37identify any perpetrator of, an act of terrorism against the United States, the commonwealth or its
38subdivisions; or the disclosure of the protected information is reasonably likely to prevent a
39threat of imminent violence, bodily harm, or death.
40 (c) (i) A government entity may not compel a covered service provider to provide
41testimony or production of any document consisting of any record, information, or other
42communications stored by a covered service provider on behalf of a covered journalist, including
43without limitation testimony or production of any document relating to a personal account or a
44personal technology device of a covered journalist, unless a court of competent jurisdiction
45determines by a preponderance of the evidence that disclosure is reasonably likely to prevent a
46threat of imminent violence, bodily harm, or death. If such a determination is made, the court
47shall issue an order authorizing the government entity to compel the disclosure.
48 (ii) A government entity seeking to compel the provision of testimony or production of
49any document pursuant to this subsection shall inform the court that the testimony or document
50relates to a covered journalist.
51 (iii) The court may authorize a government entity to compel the provision of testimony or
52production of a document under this subsection only after the government entity seeking the
53testimony or document provides the covered journalist on behalf of whom the testimony or
54document is stored notice of the subpoena or other compulsory request for such testimony or 4 of 4
55document from the covered service provider not more than 3 days after the subpoena or request
56is issued to the covered service provider. The court shall provide the covered journalist an
57opportunity to be heard prior to issuing a decision.
58 (iv) Notice and an opportunity to be heard under subparagraph (iii) above may be delayed
59for not more than 45 days if the court determines there is clear and convincing evidence that such
60notice would pose a clear and substantial threat to the integrity of a criminal investigation or
61would present an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm. The 45-day period may be
62extended by the court for additional periods of not more than 45 days if the court makes a
63renewed determination that there is clear and convincing evidence that providing notice to the
64covered journalist would pose a clear and substantial threat to the integrity of a criminal
65investigation or would present an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm.
66 (d) The content of any testimony, document, or protected information that is compelled
67under paragraphs (b) and (c) shall not be overbroad, unreasonable, or oppressive, and as
68appropriate, shall be limited to the purpose of verifying published information or describing any
69surrounding circumstances relevant to the accuracy of such published information and narrowly
70tailored in subject matter and time period covered to avoid compelling the production of
71peripheral, nonessential, or speculative information.