Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 3. Source pages: 6.
HB 14 by Rep. Lance Harris sets forth civil liability of interactive computer services that restrict a user's account or content based on race, gender, political ideology, or religious beliefs.
"Any owner, operator, or provider of an interactive computer service shall not restrict, either directly, manually, or through the use of an algorithm, a user's account or content based on race, gender, political ideology, or religious beliefs."
The proposed law states that the interactive computer service shall be liable to a user whose account or content was restricted and a user who reasonably would have received or viewed another user's content but for the restriction.
The new law would provide for a prescription of two years from when the violation was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, provides for a jury trial, and provides for damages including actual damages, statutory damages of $50,000 per violation, and court costs, fees, and reasonable attorney fees.
The proposed law is only applicable to interactive computer services with more than 10,000,000 users, and authorizes the attorney general to investigate alleged violations.
Rep. Harris includes the following definitions:
"Religious beliefs" include opinions on religion, faith, spirituality, faith- based practices, and religious texts.
"Political ideology" includes a set of opinions related to politics, economics, government, social movements, and ethics.
"Restrict" includes suspending or canceling a user's account, deleting a user's content, or limiting or partially limiting access to a user's account or content regardless of whether the limitation is readily apparent to the user.
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