Bill Text: IA HF633 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to certain companies that censor online content and providing civil penalties.(See HF 830.)
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-11 - Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 830. [HF633 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2021-HF633-Introduced.html
House
File
633
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
633
BY
JACOBSEN
,
WHEELER
,
and
OSMUNDSON
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
certain
companies
that
censor
online
content
1
and
providing
civil
penalties.
2
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
3
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633
Section
1.
NEW
SECTION
.
554E.1
Definitions.
1
As
used
in
this
chapter,
unless
the
context
otherwise
2
requires:
3
1.
“Dominant
social
media
company”
means
and
includes
a
4
person
or
an
affiliate
of
a
person
who
owns
or
operates
a
5
social
networking
website.
6
2.
“Internet
site”
means
the
same
as
defined
in
section
4.1.
7
3.
“Person”
means
the
same
as
defined
in
section
4.1.
8
4.
“Social
networking
website”
means
and
includes
an
9
internet
site
that
meets
all
of
the
following
criteria:
10
a.
Allows
users,
through
the
creation
of
pages
within
11
the
internet
site
or
profiles
or
by
other
means,
to
provide
12
information
about
themselves
that
is
available
to
the
public
13
or
to
other
users.
14
b.
Allows
users
a
mechanism
for
communication
with
other
15
users.
16
c.
Has
at
least
seventy-five
million
subscribers
or
members.
17
d.
Was
not
affiliated
with
any
one
religion
or
political
18
party
from
its
inception.
19
Sec.
2.
NEW
SECTION
.
554E.2
Prohibition
on
censorship
——
20
notice.
21
1.
A
dominant
social
media
company
shall
not
affect
the
22
ability
of
a
user
to
create,
view,
comment,
or
otherwise
23
interact
with
content
that
constitutes
constitutionally
24
protected
speech
on
the
dominant
social
media
company’s
25
social
networking
website
by
limiting,
blocking,
or
otherwise
26
restricting
any
content
on
the
social
networking
website
or
the
27
user’s
access
to
the
social
networking
website.
28
2.
Within
thirty
days
after
a
dominant
social
media
company
29
violates
subsection
1,
the
dominant
social
media
company
shall
30
provide
the
user
with
electronic
notice
that
explains
why
the
31
user’s
content
was
limited,
blocked,
or
otherwise
restricted,
32
or
why
the
user’s
access
to
the
social
networking
website
was
33
restricted.
34
Sec.
3.
NEW
SECTION
.
554E.3
Enforcement
——
penalties
——
35
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rules.
1
1.
The
office
of
the
attorney
general
shall
enforce
the
2
provisions
of
this
chapter.
3
2.
The
office
of
the
attorney
general
shall
assess
a
civil
4
penalty
for
a
violation
of
this
chapter
in
an
amount
not
to
5
exceed
one
hundred
thousand
dollars
for
each
violation.
6
3.
The
office
of
the
attorney
general
shall
adopt
rules
7
pursuant
to
chapter
17A
to
administer
and
interpret
this
8
chapter.
9
EXPLANATION
10
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
11
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
12
This
bill
relates
to
certain
companies
that
censor
online
13
content.
14
The
bill
creates
new
Code
chapter
554E.
The
bill
defines
15
“dominant
social
media
company”
to
include
a
person
or
an
16
affiliate
of
a
person
who
owns
or
operates
a
social
networking
17
website.
The
bill
defines
“internet
site”
by
reference
to
18
Code
section
4.1,
as
a
specific
location
on
the
internet
that
19
is
determined
by
internet
protocol
numbers,
by
a
domain
name,
20
or
by
both.
The
bill
defines
“person”
by
reference
to
Code
21
section
4.1,
as
an
individual,
corporation,
limited
liability
22
company,
government
or
governmental
subdivision
or
agency,
23
business
trust,
estate,
trust,
partnership
or
association,
or
24
any
other
legal
entity.
The
bill
defines
“social
networking
25
website”
to
include
an
internet
site
that
allows
users
to
26
provide
information
about
themselves
that
is
available
to
27
the
public
or
to
other
users,
allows
users
a
mechanism
for
28
communication
with
other
users,
has
at
least
75
million
29
subscribers
or
members,
and
was
not
affiliated
with
any
one
30
religion
or
political
party
from
its
inception.
31
The
bill
prohibits
a
dominant
social
media
company
32
from
affecting
the
ability
of
a
user
to
create,
view,
33
comment,
or
otherwise
interact
with
content
that
constitutes
34
constitutionally
protected
speech
on
its
social
networking
35
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633
website
by
restricting
any
content
on
the
social
networking
1
website,
or
by
restricting
the
user’s
access
to
the
social
2
networking
website.
3
The
bill
provides
that,
within
30
days
after
a
dominant
4
social
media
company
restricts
a
user’s
content
that
5
constitutes
constitutionally
protected
speech
on
its
social
6
networking
website,
or
restricts
the
user’s
access
to
its
7
social
networking
website,
the
dominant
social
media
company
8
shall
provide
the
user
with
notice
explaining
why
the
user’s
9
content
was
restricted,
or
why
the
user’s
access
to
the
social
10
networking
website
was
restricted.
11
The
bill
requires
the
office
of
the
attorney
general
to
12
enforce
the
provisions
of
new
Code
chapter
554E,
assess
a
civil
13
penalty
for
a
violation
of
the
new
Code
chapter
in
an
amount
14
not
to
exceed
$100,000
for
each
violation,
and
adopt
rules
to
15
administer
and
interpret
the
bill.
16
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