Florida Senate - 2026                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 898
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       The Committee on Commerce and Tourism (Garcia) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 501.1741, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         501.1741 Online Media Transparency Act.—
    8         (1)SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the “Online
    9  Media Transparency Act.”
   10         (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   11         (a) “Content creator” means any individual, group, or
   12  entity that produces or disseminates digital media through
   13  social media platforms, blogs, video-sharing services, podcasts,
   14  or other Internet-based communication channels for the purpose
   15  of influencing public opinion or consumer behavior.
   16         (b) “Foreign country” means a country other than the United
   17  States or any territory of the United States, including Guam,
   18  American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of
   19  Puerto Rico.
   20         (c)“Foreign principal” means any foreign government or
   21  foreign political party, or any person or entity that is
   22  established under the laws of a foreign country or has its
   23  principal place of business there.
   24         (d)“Material connection” means any financial, employment,
   25  personal, or family relationship with a person or an entity
   26  pursuant to the disclosure rules, regulations, and guidance of
   27  the Federal Trade Commission.
   28         (e) “Sponsorship” means any payment, gift, service, or
   29  other thing of value provided to a content creator in exchange
   30  for the promotion, endorsement, or favorable presentation of a
   31  product, service, organization, or idea.
   32         (3)DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION.—
   33         (a) Any content creator within this state that is required
   34  to disclose a material connection to a person or an entity,
   35  pursuant to the most recent rule, regulation, or guidance from
   36  the Federal Trade Commission, shall clearly and conspicuously
   37  disclose such material connection within any social media
   38  content disseminated in this state.
   39         (b) The disclosure must:
   40         1.Identify any sponsorship and indicate that the content
   41  has been sponsored or materially supported.
   42         2.Use simple and clear language.
   43         3.Be in the same language as the promoted content.
   44         4.Use platform-specific standards so that the disclosure
   45  is communicated on all devices and formats.
   46         (c) Failure to disclose a material connection as required
   47  under this subsection constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or
   48  practice under part II of this chapter.
   49         (4) FOREIGN COUNTRY SPONSORSHIP DISCLOSURE.—Any content
   50  creator that has a material connection to a foreign principal of
   51  a foreign country must file a full and public disclosure of
   52  sponsorship with the Department Legal Affairs for any fiscal
   53  year such creator receives such sponsorship. Such disclosure
   54  must include all of the following information:
   55         (a)The foreign principal’s name.
   56         (b)A detailed statement describing the nature of the
   57  content creator’s business.
   58         (c)The total amount of such payments the content creator
   59  has received from all sponsorships from a foreign principal.
   60         (d)A detailed statement of the payments made by the
   61  foreign principal during the previous fiscal year in connection
   62  with actions taken by the content creator as an agent of, on
   63  behalf of, or in furtherance of the goals of a foreign country.
   64  The statement must identify the amount of each payment.
   65         (5)DUTIES AND LIABILITIES OF INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE
   66  PROVIDERS.—A provider of an interactive computer service, as
   67  defined in 47 U.S.C. s. 230(f)(2), shall develop and implement a
   68  system for tracking, flagging, and investigating illegal
   69  activity and removing illegal content occurring on its
   70  interactive computer service. However, a provider of an
   71  interactive computer service is not liable for content generated
   72  by a person in violation of this act.
   73         (6) RULEMAKING.—The Department of Legal Affairs may adopt
   74  rules necessary to implement this section.
   75         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
   76  
   77  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   78  And the title is amended as follows:
   79         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   80  and insert:
   81                        A bill to be entitled                      
   82         An act relating to online media transparency; creating
   83         s. 501.1741, F.S.; providing a short title; defining
   84         terms; requiring certain content creators to clearly
   85         and conspicuously disclose any sponsorship within any
   86         related media content; specifying requirements for the
   87         disclosure; providing that failure to disclose a
   88         sponsorship constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or
   89         practice; requiring a content creator that receives
   90         sponsorship from a foreign principal of a foreign
   91         country to file a certain disclosure with the
   92         Department of Legal Affairs; specifying requirements
   93         for such disclosure; requiring providers of an
   94         interactive computer service to track, flag, and
   95         investigate illegal activity and remove illegal
   96         content; providing that providers of interactive
   97         computer services are not liable for certain content;
   98         authorizing the Department of Legal Affairs to adopt
   99         rules; providing an effective date.