August 26, 2021 - Introduced by Senators Bradley, Nass, Darling, Stroebel and
Testin, cosponsored by Representatives Horlacher, Callahan, Allen,
Armstrong, Brandtjen, Cabral-Guevara, Dittrich, Edming, Gundrum,
Knodl, Kuglitsch, Macco, Magnafici, Moses, Penterman, Rozar, Schraa,
Tusler, VanderMeer, Wichgers and Steffen. Referred to Committee on
Government Operations, Legal Review and Consumer Protection.

This bill creates requirements and prohibitions for social media platforms in
the regulation of users and user content. The bill defines “social media platform” as
an Internet site or Internet-based software application, a primary purpose of which,
from the perspective of a user, is to allow users to create personalized pages,
accounts, profiles, or handles for the purpose of sharing information and content and
communicating with other users and the public. A “social media platform” is limited
to a platform that does business in this state and that either has annual gross
revenues of more than $100,000,000, or that has at least 20,000 global users who use
the social media platform per month.

The bill prohibits a social media platform from using post prioritization
(prioritizing certain content ahead of, below, or in a more or less prominent position
than others in a newsfeed, feed, view, or search results) on content or material posted
by or about a candidate for state or local office or an elected official who holds a state,
local, or national office. The bill also prohibits a social media platform from
knowingly censoring, deplatforming (deleting or banning from the social media
platform for more than 60 days), or shadow banning (limiting or eliminating the
exposure of a user, or content posted by a user, to other users of the social media
platform) a candidate for state or local office or an elected official who holds a state,
local, or national office. This prohibition applies only to official pages, accounts,
profiles, or handles relating to a candidate's campaign or an elected official's office

and does not apply to any personal pages, accounts, profiles, or handles. Nor does
the prohibition apply to post prioritization that is based on payments to the social
media platform by the affected candidate or elected official or by a third party. The
bill requires a social media platform to provide users with a method to identify
themselves as candidates or elected officials. The bill also provides that the
prohibition on censorship does not apply to content or material that is obscene or that
constitutes a credible threat to another person. In addition, the bill provides that an
action by a social media platform employee creates a rebuttable presumption that
the social media platform acted knowingly.

Under the bill, a social media platform must notify a user if the platform
knowingly censors the user's content or knowingly deplatforms the user, unless the
censored content is obscene or constitutes a credible threat. The bill also requires
a social media platform to allow a user who has been deplatformed to access or
retrieve all of the user's information, content, material, and data for at least 60 days
after being deplatformed.

Under the bill, a social media platform must publish the standards it uses for
determining how to censor, deplatform, and shadow ban users on the platform. A
social media platform must apply censorship, deplatforming, and shadow banning
standards in a consistent manner among its users on the platform.

The bill also requires a social media platform to inform each user about any
changes to its user rules, terms, and agreements before implementing the changes,
and prohibits social media platforms from changing its user rules, terms, and
agreements more than once every 30 days. A social media platform must also provide
a mechanism for a user to request the number of other global users who were
provided or shown the user's content or posts, and to provide that number to the user
upon request.

In addition, the bill requires a social media platform to categorize algorithms
used for post prioritization and shadow banning and to allow users to opt out of these
categories. A social media platform must provide users with an annual notice on the
use of algorithms for post prioritization and shadow banning and annually offer the
opportunity to opt out of algorithm categories.

The bill allows a user to bring a private cause of action against a social media
platform if the platform violates the requirements or prohibitions of the bill. The bill
provides that, in a private cause of action brought by a user, a court may award
statutory damages of not more than $250,000 for each proven claim involving
statewide candidates and elected officials, $200,000 for each proven claim involving
other candidates and elected officials, or $100,000 for each proven claim involving
other users; actual damages; punitive damages, if aggravating factors are present;
other forms of equitable relief; and costs and attorney fees.