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AB591,4,23 21(2) Cause of action. Except as provided in sub. (6), a user of a social media
22Internet site has a civil cause of action against the owner or operator of the social
23media Internet site if the owner or operator intentionally does any of the following:
AB591,4,2524 (a) Deletes or censors the user's religious speech or political speech on the social
25media Internet site.
AB591,5,2
1(b) Uses an algorithm to delete, censor, disfavor, or censure the user's religious
2speech or political speech on the social media Internet site.
AB591,5,53 (c) Fails to notify a user that the user's religious speech or political speech has
4been deleted, censored, disfavored, or censured, or that the user has been
5deplatformed.
AB591,5,86 (d) Fails to allow a user who has been deplatformed to access or retrieve all of
7the user's information, content, material, and data for at least 60 days after being
8deplatformed.
AB591,5,129 (e) Fails to publish the standards, including detailed definitions, that it uses
10or has used for determining how to delete, censor, disfavor, and censure the speech
11of users on the social media Internet site and how to deplatform and shadow ban
12users on the social media Internet site.
AB591,5,1413 (f) Applies censorship, deplatforming, and shadow banning standards in a
14manner that is not consistent among its users on the social media Internet site.
AB591,5,1615 (g) Fails to inform each user about any changes to the social media Internet
16site's user rules, terms, and agreements.
AB591,5,1817 (h) Makes changes to its user rules, terms, and agreements more than once
18every 180 days.
AB591,5,2119 (i) Fails to provide a mechanism for a user to request the number of other users
20who were provided or shown the user's content or posts and provide that number to
21the user upon request.
AB591,5,24 22(3) Unavailable defense. It is not a defense to an action brought under this
23section that the owner or operator of a social media Internet site considered a user's
24religious speech or political speech to be hate speech.
AB591,6,8
1(4) Enforcement by attorney general or district attorneys. (a) If the owner
2or operator of a social media Internet site intentionally censors a user's religious
3speech or political speech as described under sub. (2) (a), in addition and
4supplementary to the user's cause of action that exists under sub. (2), the attorney
5general or any district attorney, on behalf of the user or on behalf of the state or both,
6may commence and maintain an action with respect to the intentional censorship,
7separately or in conjunction with an action brought under sub. (2) or under this
8paragraph.
AB591,6,119 (b) In an action under this section, the user who has the cause of action under
10sub. (2), the attorney general, or any district attorney may intervene in the action as
11a matter of right.
AB591,6,14 12(5) Remedies. (a) If a user, or the attorney general or district attorney under
13sub. (4), prevails in a civil action under this section, the court may award appropriate
14relief, including all of the following:
AB591,6,1715 1. Any economic and noneconomic damages suffered by the user, which the
16court shall award to the user regardless of whether the user participated in the
17action.
AB591,6,2218 2. Statutory damages in an amount of not less than $75,000 for each intentional
19act described under sub. (2). If the attorney general or district attorney under sub.
20(4) is a prevailing party, the court shall award statutory damages related to
21intentional censorship to the state. If the user is a prevailing party, the court shall
22award any other statutory damages to the user.
AB591,6,2523 3. If aggravating factors are present, punitive damages. If the attorney general
24or district attorney under sub. (4) is a prevailing party, the court shall award any
25punitive damages to the state.
AB591,7,1
14. Injunctive relief.
AB591,7,52 (b) The court may award a prevailing party, including the state, in a civil action
3under this section costs and, notwithstanding s. 814.04 (1), reasonable attorney fees.
4The court may not assess costs or attorney fees under this paragraph against the
5state.
AB591,7,86 (c) The owner or operator of a social media Internet site may mitigate damages
7available under par. (a) by doing any of the following within a reasonable amount of
8time:
AB591,7,109 1. Restoring from deletion or disfavor or removing the censoring or censuring
10of a user's religious speech or political speech.
AB591,7,1211 2. Notifying a user that the user's religious speech or political speech has been
12deleted, censored, disfavored, or censured, or that the user has been deplatformed.
AB591,7,1413 3. Allowing a user who has been deplatformed to access or retrieve all of the
14user's information, content, material, and data.
AB591,7,1815 4. Publishing the standards, including detailed definitions, that it uses or has
16used for determining how to delete, censor, disfavor, and censure speech on the social
17media Internet site and how to deplatform and shadow ban users on the social media
18Internet site.
AB591,7,2219 5. Taking actions to apply censorship, deplatforming, and shadow banning
20standards in a manner that is consistent among its users on the social media Internet
21site, and to reverse any previous actions that were taken in a manner that was
22inconsistent among users.
AB591,7,2423 6. Informing each user about any changes to the social media Internet site's
24user rules, terms, and agreements.
AB591,8,2
17. Reversing any changes to its user rules, terms, and agreements that were
2made more frequently than once every 180 days.
AB591,8,53 8. Providing a mechanism for a user to request the number of other users who
4were provided or shown the user's content or posts and provide that number to the
5user upon request.
AB591,8,6 6(6) Exceptions. This section does not apply to any of the following:
AB591,8,97 (a) The owner or operator of a social media Internet site that takes an action
8under sub. (2) in relation to a user's speech on the social media Internet site to which
9any of the following applies:
AB591,8,1010 1. The speech calls for immediate acts of violence.
AB591,8,1111 2. The speech is obscene or pornographic in nature.
AB591,8,1312 3. The speech is the result of a court order or the sharing of the speech violates
13a court order.
AB591,8,1414 4. The speech comes from an inauthentic source or involves false personation.
AB591,8,1515 5. The speech entices criminal conduct.
AB591,8,1616 6. The speech involves bullying minors.
AB591,8,1717 7. The speech involves financial fraud.
AB591,8,2118 (b) The owner or operator of a social media Internet site that is affiliated with
19a particular religion and that deletes or censors a user's religious speech, or that uses
20an algorithm to delete, censor, disfavor, or censure a user's religious speech, on the
21social media Internet site.
AB591,8,2522 (c) The owner or operator of a social media Internet site that is affiliated with
23a particular political party and that deletes or censors a user's political speech, or
24that uses an algorithm to delete, censor, disfavor, or censure a user's political speech,
25on the social media Internet site.
AB591,9,1
1(d) The deleting or censoring by a user of another user's speech.
AB591,2 2Section 2. Initial applicability.
AB591,9,43 (1) This act first applies to an action by the owner or operator of a social media
4Internet site that occurs on the effective date of this subsection.
AB591,3 5Section 3. Effective date.
AB591,9,66 (1) This act takes effect on the 30th day after the day of publication.
AB591,9,77 (End)
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