1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
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3 SENATE BILL 730 By: Standridge
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to censorship of social media;
7 defining terms; creating cause of action for deletion
8 or censorship of certain speech; authorizing certain
8 damages; authorizing award of certain costs and fees;
9 prohibiting certain defense; requiring social media
9 website to publish certain standards; requiring
10 consistency of application of certain standards;
10 prohibiting use of algorithm to take certain actions;
11 prohibiting certain justification or defense;
11 establishing immunity from liability for certain
12 actions; clarifying persons with standing for certain
12 action; authorizing Attorney General to bring certain
13 action; prohibiting certain action by social media
13 website against certain qualified candidate;
14 establishing fines for certain violations; requiring
14 notice of certain in-kind contributions; construing
15 provisions; clarifying enforcement; providing for
15 codification; and providing an effective date.
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18 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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19 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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20 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1450.1 of Title 12, unless there
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21 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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22 As used in this act:
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23 1. “Algorithm” means a set of instructions designed to perform
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24 a specific task;
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 1 2. “Candidate” means a person who seeks to qualify for
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2 nomination or election to or retention in a public office;
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3 3. “Deplatform” means the action or practice by a social media
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4 website to permanently delete or ban a user or to temporarily delete
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5 or ban a user from the social media platform;
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6 4. “Hate speech” means a phrase concerning content that an
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7 individual arbitrarily finds offensive based on his or her personal
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8 moral code;
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9 5. “Obscene” means that to the average person, applying
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10 contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material
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11 taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest;
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12 6. “Political speech” means speech relating to the state, the
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13 government, the body politic, public administration, or government
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14 policymaking. Political speech includes speech by the government or
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15 candidates for office and any discussion of social issues.
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16 Political speech does not include speech concerning the
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17 administration or the law of or relating to the civil aspects of
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18 government;
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19 7. “Religious speech” means a set of unproven answers, truth
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20 claims, faith-based assumptions, and naked assertions that attempt
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21 to explain the greater questions like how things were created, what
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22 humans should or should not be doing, and what happens after death;
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23 8. “Shadow ban” means an action by a social media website
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24 through any means, whether the action is determined by a natural
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 1 person or an algorithm, to limit or eliminate the exposure of a user
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2 or content or material posted by a user to other users of the social
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3 media platform. Shadow ban includes acts of shadow banning by a
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4 social media website which are not readily apparent to a user;
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5 9. “Social media website” means a website or application that
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6 allows a user to construct a public or semi-public profile and
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7 enables users to communicate with each other for the primary purpose
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8 of posting information, comments, messages, or images and:
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9 a. is open to the public,
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10 b. has more than seventy-five million (75,000,000)
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11 subscribers, and
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12 c. has not been specifically affiliated with any one
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13 political party or religion from its inception.
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14 Social media website shall not include electronic mail or any online
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15 service, application, or website consisting primarily of news,
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16 sports, entertainment, or other information or content that is not
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17 user-generated but is preselected or curated by the provider and for
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18 which any chat, comment, or interactive functionality is incidental
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19 to, directly related to, or dependent on the provision of such
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20 content; and
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21 10. “User” means a person who resides or is domiciled in this
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22 state and who has an account on a social media website.
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 1 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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2 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1450.2 of Title 12, unless there
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3 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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4 A. The owner or operator of a social media website who
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5 contracts with users in this state is subject to a private right of
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6 action by a social media website user if the social media website
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7 purposely:
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8 1. Deletes or censors a social media website user’s political
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9 speech or religious speech; or
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10 2. Uses an algorithm to suppress political speech or religious
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11 speech.
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12 B. 1. Damages available to a social media website user under
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13 this section shall include:
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14 a. damages in an amount not to exceed Seventy-five
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15 Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) per intentional deletion
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16 or censoring of the social media website user’s
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17 speech,
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18 b. actual damages,
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19 c. punitive damages if aggravating factors are present,
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20 and
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21 d. other applicable forms of equitable relief.
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22 2. The prevailing party in a cause of action under this section
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23 may be awarded costs and reasonable attorney fees.
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 1 3. A social media website that restores from deletion or
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2 removes the censoring of a social media website user’s speech in a
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3 reasonable amount of time may use such fact to mitigate any damages.
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4 C. A social media website shall publish the standards,
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5 including detailed definitions, it uses or has used for determining
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6 how to censor, shadow ban, or delete a users’ political or religious
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7 speech.
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8 D. A social media website shall apply censorship, shadow ban,
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9 and deletion standards in a consistent manner among its users on the
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10 platform.
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11 E. A social media website may not use an algorithm to censor,
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12 shadow ban, or delete political speech posted by or about a user who
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13 is known to the social media website to be a candidate as defined by
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14 Section 1 of this act, beginning on the date of qualification and
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15 ending on the date of the election or the date the candidate ceases
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16 to be a candidate. A social media website shall provide each user a
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17 method by which the user may be identified as a qualified candidate
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18 and which provides sufficient information to allow the social media
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19 platform to confirm the user’s qualification as a candidate.
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20 F. A social media website may not take any action to censor,
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21 deplatform, or shadow ban a journalistic enterprise based on the
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22 content of its publication or broadcast.
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 1 G. A social media website may not use the social media website
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2 user’s alleged hate speech as a basis for justification or defense
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3 to the action against the social media website at a trial.
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4 H. 1. A social media website shall be immune from liability
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5 under this section if it deletes or censors a social media website
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6 user’s speech or uses an algorithm to disfavor or censure speech
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7 that:
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8 a. calls for immediate acts of violence,
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9 b. is obscene or pornographic in nature,
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10 c. is the result of operational error,
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11 d. is the result of a court order,
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12 e. comes from an inauthentic source or involved false
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13 impersonation,
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14 f. entices criminal conduct,
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15 g. involves the bullying of minors, or
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16 h. violates or misappropriates copyright, trademark, or
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17 other intellectual property.
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18 2. A social media website shall not be liable under this
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19 section for a social media website user’s censoring of the speech of
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20 another social media website user.
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21 I. Only users who are eighteen (18) years of age or older shall
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22 have standing to bring an action pursuant to this section.
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23 J. The Attorney General may bring a civil cause of action under
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24 this section on behalf of social media website users who reside in
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 1 this state whose political speech or religious speech has been
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2 censored by a social media website.
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3 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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4 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1450.3 of Title 12, unless there
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5 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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6 A. A social media website may not willfully deplatform a
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7 candidate for office who is known by the social media website to be
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8 a candidate, beginning on the date of qualification and ending on
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9 the date of the election or the date the candidate ceases to be a
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10 candidate. A social media website shall provide each user a method
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11 by which the user may be identified as a qualified candidate and
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12 which provides sufficient information to allow the social media
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13 platform to confirm the user’s qualification as a candidate.
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14 B. Upon a finding of a violation of subsection A of this
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15 section, the social media platform may be fined Two Hundred Fifty
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16 Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) per day for a candidate for statewide
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17 office and Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per day for
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18 candidates for other offices.
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19 C. A social media website that willfully provides free
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20 advertising for a candidate shall inform the candidate of such in-
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21 kind contribution. Posts, content, material, and comments by
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22 candidates which are shown on the social media website in the same
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23 or similar way as other users’ posts, content, material and comments
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24 shall not be considered free advertising.
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 1 D. The provisions of this section may only be enforced to the
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2 extent not inconsistent with federal law.
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3 SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
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5 59-1-67 TEK 1/18/2023 4:33:14 PM
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