Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 898
By
Senator Garcia
36-00837-26 2026898__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to online media transparency; creating
3 s. 501.981, F.S.; providing a short title; defining
4 terms; requiring certain content creators to clearly
5 and conspicuously disclose any sponsorship within any
6 related media content; providing requirements for the
7 disclosure; providing that failure to disclose a
8 sponsorship constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or
9 practice; requiring a content creator who receives
10 sponsorship from a foreign principal of a foreign
11 country to file a certain disclosure with the
12 Department of State; providing requirements for such
13 disclosure; authorizing the department to adopt rules;
14 providing an effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Section 501.981, Florida Statutes, is created to
19 read:
20
501.981 Online Media Transparency Act.—
21
(1)
SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the “
Online
22
Media Transparency Act
.”
23
(
2
)
DEFINITIONS
.—As used in this section, the term:
24
(a) “Content creator” means any individual, group, or
25
entity that produces or disseminates digital media through
26
social media platforms, blogs, video-sharing services, podcasts,
27
or other
I
nternet-based communication channels for the purpose
28
of influencing public opinion or consumer behavior.
29
(
b
) “Foreign country” means a country other than the United
30
States
or
any territory of the United States, including Guam,
31
American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of
32
Puerto Rico.
33
(c)
“Foreign principal” means any foreign government or
34
foreign political party, or any person or entity that is
35
established under the laws of a foreign country or has its
36
principal place of business there. The term includes any
37
individual who is not a United States citizen but is domiciled
38
in the United States.
39
(
d
)
“Material connection” means any financial, employment,
40
personal
,
or family relationship with a person or
an
entity
41
pursuant to the disclosure rules, regulations, and guides of the
42
Federal Trade Commission.
43
(
e
) “Sponsorship” means any payment, gift, service, or
44
other thing of value provided to a content creator in exchange
45
for the promotion, endorsement, or favorable presentation of a
46
product, service, organization, or idea.
47
(
3
)
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
.—
48
(a) Any
content creator
within this state who is required
49
to disclose a material connection to a person or an entity,
50
pursuant to the most recent rule, regulation, or guidance from
51
the Federal Trade Commission, shall clearly and conspicuously
52
disclose such material connection within any social media
53
content disseminated in this state.
54
(b) The disclosure must
:
55
1.
I
dentify
any sponsorship
and indicate that the content
56
has been
sponsored
or materially supported.
57
2.
Use simple and clear language.
58
3.
Be in the same language as the sponsorship.
59
4.
Use platform-specific standards so that the disclosure
60
is visible on all devices and formats.
61
(c) Failure to disclose
a material connection
as required
62
under this subsection constitutes
an
unfair or
deceptive
act or
63
practice under part II of
this
chapter.
64
(
4
)
FOREIGN COUNTRY SPONSORSHIP DISCLOSURE
.—Any
content
65
creator who has a material connection to a foreign principal of
66
a foreign country must file a full and public disclosure of
67
sponsorship with the Department of State for any fiscal year he
68
or she receives such sponsorship. Such disclosure must include
69
all of the following information:
70
(a)
The
foreign principal’s
name.
71
(b)
The address of the
content creator’s
primary residence
72
and all other addresses associated with the
content creator
.
73
(c)
A detailed statement describing the nature of the
74
content creator’s
business.
75
(d)
The total amount of such payments the
content creator
76
has received from
all sponsorships from a
foreign principal
.
77
(e)
A detailed statement of the payments made by the
78
foreign principal
during the previous
fiscal year
in connection
79
with actions taken by the
content creator
as an agent of, on
80
behalf of, or in furtherance of the goals of a foreign country.
81
The statement must identify the amount of the payment
.
82
(
5
)
RULEMAKING
.—The
department
may adopt rules necessary to
83
implement this section.
84 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.