New York Senate Bill S08394 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8394  IN SENATE January 26, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technology AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to content moder- ation by social media networks The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 2 390-f to read as follows: 3 § 390-f. Content moderation by social media networks. 1. A social 4 media network, as defined in this section, that conducts business in the 5 state, shall develop clear, consistent and publicly accessible content 6 moderation policies which describe: 7 (a) the type of human moderation used to identify and remove offending 8 content, including whether or not the platform uses in-house employees, 9 community moderators, or third party vendors, the number of languages in 10 which content moderation is offered, and the extent of local expertise; 11 (b) the type of automated tools used to identify and remove offending 12 content, participation in cross-industry initiatives and how the plat- 13 form responds to content flagged by cross-industry initiatives; and 14 (c) the enforcement actions that will be taken against any user who 15 targets content that encourages harm to persons or property. 16 2. When an enforcement action is taken by a social media network, the 17 social media network shall provide the user with a reason for such 18 action, including the specific content, how to file an appeal, who shall 19 review the appeal, and how the decision will be communicated to the 20 user. 21 3. For the purposes of this section: 22 (a) "Enforcement action" shall include, but shall not be limited to, 23 disqualifying a user from making money off their content, decreased 24 distribution of user content, adding restrictions or warnings to user 25 posts, or the suspension of a user account. 26 (b) "Social media network" means service providers, which, for 27 profit-making purposes, operate internet platforms that are designed to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14119-03-4 
 S. 8394 2 1 enable users to share any content with other users or to make such 2 content available to the public. 3 4. Each social media network shall submit an annual transparency 4 report to the attorney general no later than February first, two thou- 5 sand twenty-six and annually thereafter. Such report shall include: 6 (a) the number of requests received to remove content or suspend 7 accounts and whether action was taken; 8 (b) the overall number of removed content and suspended accounts; and 9 (c) the error rate for enforcing each content moderation policy and 10 the error rates for human and algorithm moderation. 11 5. Any social media network that knowingly fails to comply with the 12 requirements of this section shall be assessed a civil penalty for such 13 violation by the attorney general not to exceed ten thousand dollars. 14 Each day such offense shall continue shall constitute a separate addi- 15 tional violation. In determination of any such violation, the attorney 16 general shall be authorized to take proof and make a determination of 17 the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil 18 practice law and rules. 19 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.