FL Digital Bill Of Rights Targets Google, Social Media Companies

FLORIDA, FL — On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a technology transparency law, Senate Bill 262, requiring Google and other search engines to disclose whether they prioritize search results based on political ideology.

Additionally, the Digital Bill of Rights prevents government-led censorship by prohibiting state or local government employees from colluding with Big Tech companies to censor protected speech.

The new law includes:

• The right to control personal data, including the right to confirm, access and delete personal data from a social platform;
• The right to know that personal data will not be used against a person when purchasing a home, obtaining health insurance or being hired;
• The right to know how internet search engines manipulate search results;
• The right to opt out of having personal data sold; and
• The right to protect children from personal data collection.

“Floridians should have the right to control their own personal data,” said DeSantis. “If a multibillion-dollar company is conspiring to take your data and sell it or use it against you, it is your right to be able to protect that data. No longer will the Big Tech oligarchs be able to commandeer your personal information and deprive you of the right to access, confirm or delete that data as you wish.”

SB 262 gives consumers the right to confirm, access and delete their personal data from a social media platform and allows users to opt out of the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising and the sale of personal data.

Additionally, users will be allowed to opt out of the collection of personal data through voice recognition. This bill adds biometric data and geolocation information to the definition of personal information under the Florida Information Protection Act.

DeSantis said the legislation also protects children in online spaces by prohibiting online platforms that provide a service, game, product or feature to children from processing the personal information of any child or collecting, selling, sharing or retaining any personal information that is not necessary to provide an online service, product or feature.

Additionally, the bill will require an online search engine to publish an up-to-date plain-language description of the main parameters that are most significant in determining ranking and the relative importance of those main parameters, including the prioritization or de-prioritization of political partisanship or political ideology in search results.

SB 262 will also prohibit government employees from using their position to communicate with social media platforms to remove content or accounts from the platform. And it prohibits a governmental entity from initiating or maintaining any agreements or working relationships with a social media platform for the purpose of content moderation.

This bill builds on legislation the governor signed recently, SB 662, "Student Online Personal Information Protection" to protect the online information of Florida’s students by creating the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act.

That law substantially restricts online operators from collecting, disclosing or selling student data that is used for school purposes. The legislation prohibits online operators from engaging in targeted advertising practices based on information collected from educational technology and prohibits the online operators from sharing, selling or renting student data to third parties, as well.