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53	53	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
54	54
55	55	2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
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57	57	SENATE BILL 1996 By: Standridge
58	58
59	59
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	AS INTRODUCED
64	64
65	65	An Act relating to censorship of social media;
66	66	defining terms; creating cause of action for deletion
67	67	or censorship of certain speech ; authorizing certain
68	68	damages; authorizing award of certain costs and fees;
69	69	prohibiting certain defense; requiring social media
70	70	website to publish certain sta ndards; requiring
71	71	consistency of application of certain standards;
72	72	prohibiting use of algorithm to take certain actions;
73	73	prohibiting certain justification or defense;
74	74	establishing immunity from liability for certain
75	75	actions; clarifying persons with standing for certain
76	76	action; authorizing Attorney General to bring certain
77	77	action; prohibiting certain action by social media
78	78	website against certain qualified candidate;
79	79	establishing fines for certain violations; requiring
80	80	notice of certain in -kind contributions; cons truing
81	81	provisions; clarifying enforcement; providing for
82	82	codification; and providing an effe ctive date.
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84	84
85	85
86	86
87	87	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
88	88	SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
89	89	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1450.1 of Title 12, unless there
90	90	is created a duplicatio n in numbering, reads as follows:
91	91	As used in this act:
92	92	1. “Algorithm” means a set of instruct ions designed to perform
93	93	a specific task;
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145	145	2. “Candidate” means a person who seeks to qualify for
146	146	nomination or election to or retention in a public office;
147	147	3. “Deplatform” means the action or practi ce by a social media
148	148	website to permanently delete or ban a user or to temporarily delete
149	149	or ban a user from the social media platfo rm;
150	150	4. “Hate speech” means a phrase concerning content that an
151	151	individual arbitrarily finds offensive based on his or her personal
152	152	moral code;
153	153	5. “Obscene” means that to the average person, ap plying
154	154	contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material
155	155	taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest;
156	156	6. “Political speech” means speech relating to the sta te, the
157	157	government, the body politic, public administra tion, or government
158	158	policymaking. Political speech includes speech by the government or
159	159	candidates for office and any discussion of social issues.
160	160	Political speech does not include speech concerning t he
161	161	administration or the law of or relating to the civil aspects of
162	162	government;
163	163	7. “Religious speech” means a set of unproven answers, tru th
164	164	claims, faith-based assumptions, and naked assertions that attempt
165	165	to explain the greater questions like how things were created, what
166	166	humans should or should not be do ing, and what happens after death;
167	167	8. “Shadow ban” means an action by a social med ia website
168	168	through any means, whether the act ion is determined by a natural
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220	220	person or an algorithm, to limit or eliminate the exposure of a user
221	221	or content or material posted by a user to other u sers of the social
222	222	media platform. Shadow ban includes acts of shadow banning by a
223	223	social media website w hich are not readily appar ent to a user;
224	224	9. “Social media website” means a website or applicati on that
225	225	allows a user to construct a public or semi-public profile and
226	226	enables users to communicate with each other for the primary purpose
227	227	of posting information, comments, messages, or images and:
228	228	a. is open to the public,
229	229	b. has more than seventy -five million (75,000,000)
230	230	subscribers, and
231	231	c. has not been specifically affiliated with any one
232	232	political party or religion from its inception.
233	233	Social media website shall not include electronic m ail or any online
234	234	service, application, or website consisting primarily of news,
235	235	sports, entertainment, or other information or content that is not
236	236	user-generated but is presel ected or curated by the provider and for
237	237	which any chat, comment, or interactive functionality is inc idental
238	238	to, directly related to, or dependent on the provision of such
239	239	content; and
240	240	10. “User” means a person who resides or is domiciled in this
241	241	state and who has an account on a social media website .
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293	293	SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new sect ion of law to be codified
294	294	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1450.2 of Title 12, unless there
295	295	is created a duplication in numb ering, reads as follows:
296	296	A. The owner or operator of a social media website who
297	297	contracts with users in this state is subject to a private right of
298	298	action by a social media website user if the so cial media website
299	299	purposely:
300	300	1. Deletes or censors a social media website u ser’s political
301	301	speech or religious speech; or
302	302	2. Uses an algorithm to suppress political speech or religious
303	303	speech.
304	304	B. 1. Damages available to a social media website user und er
305	305	this section shall include:
306	306	a. damages in an amount not to exceed Seventy-five
307	307	Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) per intentional deletion
308	308	or censoring of the social med ia website user’s
309	309	speech,
310	310	b. actual damages,
311	311	c. punitive damages if aggravating factors are present ,
312	312	and
313	313	d. other applicable forms of equitable relief.
314	314	2. The prevailing party in a cause of action under this secti on
315	315	may be awarded costs and reasonable att orney fees.
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367	367	3. A social media website that restores from deletion or
368	368	removes the censoring of a so cial media website user’s speech in a
369	369	reasonable amount of time may use such fact to mitigate any damages.
370	370	C. A social media website shall publish the standards,
371	371	including detailed definitions, it uses or has used for determining
372	372	how to censor, shadow ban, or delete a user’s political or religious
373	373	speech.
374	374	D. A social media website shall apply censorship, shadow ban,
375	375	and deletion standards in a consistent manner among its users on the
376	376	platform.
377	377	E. A social media website may not use an algorithm to censor,
378	378	shadow ban, or delete political speech posted by or about a user who
379	379	is known to the social media website to be a candidate as defined by
380	380	Section 1 of this act, beginning on the date of qualification and
381	381	ending on the date of the el ection or the date the candidate ceases
382	382	to be a candidate. A social media website shall provide each user a
383	383	method by which the user may be identified as a qualified candidate
384	384	and which provides suf ficient information to allow the social media
385	385	platform to confirm the us er’s qualification as a candidate.
386	386	F. A social media website may not take any action to censor,
387	387	deplatform, or shadow ban a journalistic enterprise based on the
388	388	content of its publicatio n or broadcast.
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440	440	G. A social media website may not use the social media website
441	441	user’s alleged hate speech as a basis for justification or defense
442	442	to the action against the social media website at a trial.
443	443	H. 1. A social media website shall be immune from liability
444	444	under this section if it deletes or censors a social med ia website
445	445	user’s speech or uses an algorithm to disfavor or censure speech
446	446	that:
447	447	a. calls for immediate acts of violence,
448	448	b. is obscene or pornographic in nature,
449	449	c. is the result of operational error,
450	450	d. is the result of a court order,
451	451	e. comes from an inauthentic source or involved false
452	452	impersonation,
453	453	f. entices criminal conduct,
454	454	g. involves the bullying of minors, or
455	455	h. violates or misappropriates copyright, trade mark, or
456	456	other intellectual property.
457	457	2. A social media website s hall not be liable under this
458	458	section for a social media website u ser’s censoring of the speech of
459	459	another social media website user.
460	460	I. Only users who are eighteen (18) years of age or olde r shall
461	461	have standing to bring an action pursuant to this section .
462	462	J. The Attorney General may bring a civil cause of action under
463	463	this section on behalf of social media we bsite users who reside in
464	464
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515	515	this state whose political speech or religious speech has been
516	516	censored by a social media website.
517	517	SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
518	518	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1450.3 of Title 12, unless there
519	519	is created a duplica tion in numbering, reads as follows:
520	520	A. A social media websit e may not willfully deplatform a
521	521	candidate for office who is known by the social media website to be
522	522	a candidate, beginning on the date of qualification and ending on
523	523	the date of the election or the date the candidate ceases to be a
524	524	candidate. A social media website shall provide each user a method
525	525	by which the user may be identified as a qualified candidate and
526	526	which provides sufficient information to allow the social media
527	527	platform to confirm the user’s qualification as a candidate.
528	528	B. Upon a finding of a violation of subsection A of this
529	529	section, the social media platform may be fin ed Two Hundred Fifty
530	530	Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) per day for a candidate for statewide
531	531	office and Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per day for
532	532	candidates for other offices.
533	533	C. A social media website that willfully provides free
534	534	advertising for a candidate shall inform the candidate of such in-
535	535	kind contribution. Posts, content, material, and comments by
536	536	candidates which are shown on the social media website in the same
537	537	or similar way as other users’ posts, content, material, and
538	538	comments shall not be considered free advertising.
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590	590	D. The provisions of t his section may only be enforced to the
591	591	extent not inconsistent with federal law.
592	592	SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
593	593
594	594	59-2-2421 TEK 1/18/2024 2:55:22 PM

Oklahoma 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1996 Compare Versions