Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB893 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4	2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 893
5	5	January 4, 2024 - Introduced by Representatives SORTWELL, BEHNKE, GOEBEN,
6	6	MURPHY, SCHMIDT and SCHRAA. Referred to Committee on Consumer
7	7	Protection.
8	8	*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
9	9	AN ACT to create 100.75 of the statutes; relating to: prohibiting social media
10	10	website censorship of journalistic enterprises.
11	11	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
12	12	This bill prohibits a social media website from censoring, deplatforming, or
13	13	shadow banning a journalistic enterprise on the basis of the content of its publication
14	14	or broadcast. The bill applies to social media websites or applications that enable
15	15	users to communicate with each other and that have more than 150 million users.
16	16	The bill defines a “journalistic enterprise” as an entity that publishes more than
17	17	10,000 words online with at least 5,000 paid subscribers or 10,000 monthly active
18	18	users, publishes more than 100 hours of audio or video online with at least 100
19	19	million viewers annually, operates a cable television channel that provides more
20	20	than 40 hours of content per week to more than 100,000 cable television subscribers,
21	21	or operates under a broadcast license issued by the Federal Communications
22	22	Commission.
23	23	Under the bill, a social media website must also provide a mechanism for a
24	24	journalistic enterprise to request the number of other individual users who were
25	25	provided or shown the journalistic enterprise's content or posts, and to provide that
26	26	number to the journalistic enterprise upon request.
27	27	The bill also allows a journalistic enterprise to bring a private cause of action
28	28	against a social media website if the website violates the bill's requirements. The bill
29	29	provides that, in a private cause of action, a court may award statutory damages of
30	30	up to $100,000 for each proven violation, actual damages, punitive damages if
31	31	aggravating factors exist, other forms of equitable relief, and costs and attorney fees.
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35	35	ASSEMBLY BILL 893
36	36	For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
37	37	an appendix to this bill.
38	38	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
39	39	enact as follows:
40	40	SECTION 1. 100.75 of the statutes is created to read:
41	41	100.75 Social media website censorship of journalistic enterprises. (1)
42	42	DEFINITIONS. In this section:
43	43	(a) “Algorithm" means a mathematical set of rules that specifies how a group
44	44	of data behaves that will assist in ranking search results and maintaining order or
45	45	that is used in sorting or ranking content or material on the basis of relevancy or
46	46	other factors instead of using published time or chronological order of such content
47	47	or material.
48	48	(b) “Censor" includes any action taken by a social media website to delete,
49	49	regulate, restrict, edit, alter, inhibit the publication or republication of, suspend a
50	50	right to post, remove, or post an addendum to any content or material posted by a
51	51	journalistic enterprise. “Censor” also includes actions to inhibit the ability of a
52	52	journalistic enterprise to be viewable by or to interact with another user of the social
53	53	media website.
54	54	(c) “Deplatform" means to delete or ban a journalistic enterprise from a social
55	55	media website for more than 60 days.
56	56	(d) “Journalistic enterprise" means an entity that does any of the following:
57	57	1. Publishes more than 10,000 words that are available online with at least
58	58	5,000 paid subscribers or 10,000 monthly active users.
59	59	2. Publishes more than 100 hours of audio or video that are available online
60	60	with at least 100 million viewers annually.
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84	84	SECTION 1
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86	86	3. Operates a cable television channel that provides more than 40 hours of
87	87	content per week to more than 100,000 cable television subscribers.
88	88	4. Operates under a broadcast license issued by the federal communications
89	89	commission.
90	90	(e) “Post prioritization" means an action by a social media website to place,
91	91	feature, or prioritize certain content or material ahead of, below, or in a more or less
92	92	prominent position than other content in a newsfeed, feed, view, or search results.
93	93	“Post prioritization” does not include actions toward such content or material that
94	94	are based on payments by a 3rd party, including other users, to the social media
95	95	website. “Post prioritization” also does not include any action toward a journalistic
96	96	enterprise's posted content or material that is taken at the request of that
97	97	journalistic enterprise.
98	98	(f) “Shadow ban" means to limit or eliminate the exposure of a journalistic
99	99	enterprise, or content or material posted by a journalistic enterprise, to other users
100	100	of the social media website through any means, regardless of whether the action is
101	101	determined by an individual or an algorithm, and regardless of whether the action
102	102	is readily apparent to a user.
103	103	(g) “Social media website” means a website or application that enables users
104	104	to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, or
105	105	images and to which all of the following apply:
106	106	1. The website or application is available to the public.
107	107	2. The website or application has more than 150 million users.
108	108	(h) “User" means a person who subscribes to or has an account on a social media
109	109	website, regardless of whether the person posts or has posted content or material to
110	110	the social media website.
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137	137	SECTION 1 ASSEMBLY BILL 893
138	138	(2) REQUIREMENTS. (a) A social media website may not take any action to
139	139	censor, deplatform, or shadow ban a journalistic enterprise on the basis of the content
140	140	of the journalistic enterprise's publication or broadcast. Post prioritization of certain
141	141	journalistic enterprise content on the basis of payments to the social media website
142	142	by such journalistic enterprise is not a violation of this paragraph.
143	143	(b) A social media website shall provide a mechanism for a journalistic
144	144	enterprise to request the number of other individual participants who were provided
145	145	or shown the journalistic enterprise's content or posts, and provide that number to
146	146	the journalistic enterprise upon request.
147	147	(3) CAUSE OF ACTION. (a) A journalistic enterprise may bring a private cause
148	148	of action for a social media website's violation of sub. (2) against the journalistic
149	149	enterprise.
150	150	(b) In a private cause of action brought under this subsection, a court may
151	151	award any of the following damages to a journalistic enterprise:
152	152	1. Statutory damages of not more than $100,000 for each proven violation.
153	153	2. Actual damages.
154	154	3. If aggravating factors are present, punitive damages.
155	155	4. Other forms of equitable relief.
156	156	5. Costs and, notwithstanding s. 814.04 (1), reasonable attorney fees.
157	157	(c) Each violation of sub. (2) shall be treated as a separate violation, act, or
158	158	practice.
159	159	(END)
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