Bill > A5860

Introduced Session

This bill, notwithstanding the provisions of State law, and consistent with federal law, prohibits a social media website, as defined in the bill, from willfully selectively suspending, commonly referred to as "deplatforming," a candidate for office who is known by the social media website to be a candidate, beginning on the date of the qualification and ending on the date of the election or the date the candidate ceases to be a candidate. A social media website is to provide each user of the social media website a method by which the user may be identified as a qualified candidate and which provides sufficient information to allow the social media website to confirm the user's qualification by reviewing the Internet website of the Division of Elections in the Department of State or the Internet website of the local board of elections. The bill provides that a social media website that willfully provides free advertising for a candidate is to inform the candidate of that in-kind contribution. Posts, content, material, and comments by candidates that are shown on the social media website in the same or similar way as other users' posts, content, material, and comments are not to be considered free advertising. The bill provides that, upon finding a violation of the provisions of the bill by the Election Law Enforcement Commission, in addition to any remedies available pursuant to State law, the commission may assess a social media website a penalty of $250,000 per day for a violation affecting a candidate for Statewide office and $25,000 per day for a violation affecting a candidate for other offices.

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Committee Categories

Serena DiMaso (R)*,  Erik Peterson (R)*,  John Catalano (R),  Chris DePhillips (R),  Antwan McClellan (R),  Greg McGuckin (R),  Kevin Rooney (R),  Erik Simonsen (R), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 06/09/2021)