Amends TCA Title 4; Title 47 and Title 65.

This bill imposes certain requirements on social media platforms. This bill requires an operator of a social media platform that authorizes users located in this state to post content or material on the platform to obtain from the public utility commission, on or before January 1, 2023, and for each year thereafter, a certificate of public convenience and necessity as a social media common carrier. This bill authorizes the commission to prescribe an equitable fee schedule based on a social media platform's gross annual revenue or the number of global individual platform participants. This bill requires the operator of a social media platform to disclose and file with the commission as part of the operator's application for a certificate all information relating to ownership and control of the company that is required to be filed with the federal communications commission. This bill prohibits a social media platform from intentionally deplatforming or shadow banning a user of the social media platform if the basis of such action is rooted in political ideology, viewpoint discrimination, personal animus, or discrimination because of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin. This bill specifies that this prohibition does not prohibit a social media platform from taking action to restrict access to, or the availability of, material that the social media platform considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, regardless of whether the material is constitutionally protected. Under this bill, if the commission, by its own inquiry or as a result of the filing of a written complaint by a user, suspects that a violation of this prohibition is imminent, occurring, or has occurred, then the commission may investigate the suspected violation. Based on its investigation, the commission may conduct a contested case hearing to take appropriate action, and if the commission finds a violation after a contested case hearing, the commission may: (1) Fine the operator of a social media platform, as follows: (A) For a user who is not a candidate for public office or an official, $25,000 for each day the social media platform is not in compliance; or (B) For a user known by the social media platform to be a candidate for public office or an official, $100,000 for each day the social media platform is not in compliance; and (2) Suspend or revoke the certificate of public convenience and necessity of the social media platform indefinitely until the platform's operator provides the commission with proof satisfactory to the commission that the social media platform is in compliance. If the commission finds that a social media platform has violated the above-described prohibition at the conclusion of the contested case hearing, then a user may bring a private cause of action for the violation. In addition to the fines that may be levied as described above, a court of competent jurisdiction may award the following to the user: (1) Actual damages; (2) Punitive damages, if appropriate; (3) Other forms of equitable relief, including injunctive relief; and (4) Costs and reasonable attorney fees. Under this bill, if the commission investigates an alleged violation, then the commission may subpoena algorithms used by a social media platform related to the alleged violation. This bill provides that a social media platform will not be subject to an administrative fine or to damages pursuant to an order of a court if the commission or court, as applicable, finds that the social media platform: (1) Relied in good faith on federal law authority to block obscene material in censoring or banning a user and applied such censorship or ban fairly and equitably to all users of the social media platform who posted the same or substantially the same objectionable material; (2) Has in place an adequate appeals process that is available to the user; and (3) Agrees to restore the user's account in a reasonable period of time in accordance with rules prescribed by the commission pursuant to this bill. This bill requires the commission to promulgate rules to effectuate the purposes of this bill, including, without limitation, rules prescribing: (1) Model policies for social media platforms for notifying a user that the user is being censored or banned; (2) An appeals process by which a user can challenge censorship by a social media platform; (3) Specific types of speech or posts that may be removed or censored; (4) The process for reviewing an act of censorship by a social media platform; (5) Circumstances under which a social media platform will not be subject to civil liability or administrative action under this bill; (6) Reasonable time periods by which a social media platform must restore a user's account after being censored or banned based on the nature of the content posted and the number of times the user has violated the policies of the social media platform; and (7) Additional criteria for obtaining a license as a social media common carrier. This bill will take effect upon becoming a law for purposes of promulgating rules and carrying out administrative duties necessary to effectuate the provisions and intent of this bill. This bill will take effect January 1, 2023, for all other purposes. This bill defines "deplatform" as the action or practice by a social media platform to permanently delete or ban a user, or to temporarily delete or ban a user, from the social media platform for more than 21 consecutive days. This bill defines "shadow ban" as an action by a social media platform, whether the action is determined by a natural person or an algorithm, to limit or eliminate the exposure of a user or content or material posted by a user to other users of the social media platform, including such actions by a social media platform that are not readily apparent to a user.