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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 1118
Introduced by Bosn, 25.
Read first time January 16, 2026
Committee: Banking, Commerce and Insurance
A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act;1
to amend section 87-302, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2025; to2
classify certain actions by a social media platform as deceptive3
trade practices under the act; and to repeal the original section.4
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,5
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Section 1. Section 87-302, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2025, is1
amended to read: 2
87-302 (a) A person engages in a deceptive trade practice when, in3
the course of his or her business, vocation, or occupation, he or she:4
(1) Passes off goods or services as those of another;5
(2) Causes likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding as to the6
source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or services;7
(3) Causes likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding as to8
affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,9
another; 10
(4) Uses deceptive representations or designations of geographic11
origin in connection with goods or services; 12
(5) Represents that goods or services have sponsorship, approval,13
characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do14
not have or that a person has a sponsorship, approval, status,15
affiliation, or connection that he or she does not have;16
(6) Represents that goods or services do not have sponsorship,17
approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities18
that they have or that a person does not have a sponsorship, approval,19
status, affiliation, or connection that he or she has;20
(7) Represents that goods are original or new if they are21
deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or secondhand,22
except that sellers may repair damage to and make adjustments on or23
replace parts of otherwise new goods in an effort to place such goods in24
compliance with factory specifications; 25
(8) Represents that goods or services are of a particular standard,26
quality, or grade, or that goods are of a particular style or model, if27
they are of another; 28
(9) Disparages the goods, services, or business of another by false29
or misleading representation of fact; 30
(10) Advertises goods or services with intent not to sell them as31
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advertised or advertises the price in any manner calculated or tending to1
mislead or in any way deceive a person; 2
(11) Advertises goods or services with intent not to supply3
reasonably expectable public demand, unless the advertisement discloses a4
limitation of quantity; 5
(12) Makes false or misleading statements of fact concerning the6
reasons for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions;7
(13) Uses or promotes the use of or establishes, operates, or8
participates in a pyramid promotional scheme in connection with the9
solicitation of such scheme to members of the public. This subdivision10
shall not be construed to prohibit a plan or operation, or to define a11
plan or operation as a pyramid promotional scheme, based on the fact that12
participants in the plan or operation give consideration in return for13
the right to receive compensation based upon purchases of goods,14
services, or intangible property by participants for personal use,15
consumption, or resale so long as the plan or operation does not promote16
or induce inventory loading and the plan or operation implements an17
appropriate inventory repurchase program; 18
(14) With respect to a sale or lease to a natural person of goods or19
services purchased or leased primarily for personal, family, household,20
or agricultural purposes, uses or employs any referral or chain referral21
sales technique, plan, arrangement, or agreement; 22
(15) Knowingly makes a false or misleading statement in a privacy23
policy, published on the Internet or otherwise distributed or published,24
regarding the use of personal information submitted by members of the25
public; 26
(16) Uses any scheme or device to defraud by means of:27
(i) Obtaining money or property by knowingly false or fraudulent28
pretenses, representations, or promises; or 29
(ii) Selling, distributing, supplying, furnishing, or procuring any30
property for the purpose of furthering such scheme;31
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(17) Offers an unsolicited check, through the mail or by other1
means, to promote goods or services if the cashing or depositing of the2
check obligates the endorser or payee identified on the check to pay for3
goods or services. This subdivision does not apply to an extension of4
credit or an offer to lend money; 5
(18) Mails or causes to be sent an unsolicited billing statement,6
invoice, or other document that appears to obligate the consumer to make7
a payment for services or merchandise he or she did not order;8
(19)(i) Installs, offers to install, or makes available for9
installation or download a covered file-sharing program on a computer not10
owned by such person without providing clear and conspicuous notice to11
the owner or authorized user of the computer that files on that computer12
will be made available to the public and without requiring intentional13
and affirmative activation of the file-sharing function of such covered14
file-sharing program by the owner or authorized user of the computer; or15
(ii) Prevents reasonable efforts to block the installation,16
execution, or disabling of a covered file-sharing program;17
(20) Violates any provision of the Nebraska Foreclosure Protection18
Act; 19
(21) In connection with the solicitation of funds or other assets20
for any charitable purpose, or in connection with any solicitation which21
represents that funds or assets will be used for any charitable purpose,22
uses or employs any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise,23
misrepresentation, unfair practice, or concealment, suppression, or24
omission of any material fact; 25
(22)(i) In the manufacture, production, importation, distribution,26
promotion, display for sale, offer for sale, attempt to sell, or sale of27
a substance: 28
(A) Makes a deceptive or misleading representation or designation,29
or omits material information, about a substance or fails to identify the30
contents of the package or the nature of the substance contained inside31
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the package; or 1
(B) Causes confusion or misunderstanding as to the effects a2
substance causes when ingested, injected, inhaled, or otherwise3
introduced into the human body. 4
(ii) A person shall be deemed to have committed a violation of the5
Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act for each individually packaged6
product that is either manufactured, produced, imported, distributed,7
promoted, displayed for sale, offered for sale, attempted to sell, or8
sold in violation of this section. A violation under this subdivision (a)9
(22) shall be treated as a separate and distinct violation from any other10
offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the11
person was in violation of this section; 12
(23)(i) Manufactures, produces, publishes, distributes, monetizes,13
promotes, or otherwise makes publicly available any visual depiction of14
sexually explicit conduct, any obscene material, or any material that is15
harmful to minors in which any person depicted as a participant or16
observer: 17
(A) Is under eighteen years of age; 18
(B) Is a trafficking victim; 19
(C) Has not expressly and voluntarily consented to such person's20
depiction; or 21
(D) Participated in any act depicted without consent.22
(ii) This subdivision (a)(23) does not apply to any23
telecommunications or broadband Internet access service.24
(iii) For purposes of this subdivision (a)(23):25
(A) Harmful to minors has the same meaning as in 47 U.S.C. 254, as26
such section existed on January 1, 2024; 27
(B) Obscene material has the same meaning as in section 28-807;28
(C) Promote means to use any mechanism or publication, or take any29
action, that suggests, highlights, advertises, markets, curates,30
backlinks, hashtags, or otherwise directs, attempts to direct, or31
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encourages traffic toward specific materials, including acts carried out1
affirmatively, through automation, algorithmically, and via other2
technical means both known and unknown at this time;3
(D) Publish means to communicate or make information available to4
another person via an Internet website, regardless of whether the person5
consuming, viewing, or receiving the material gives any consideration for6
the published material; 7
(E) Trafficking victim has the same meaning as in section 28-830;8
(F) Visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct has the same9
meaning as in section 28-1802; and 10
(G) Without consent has the same meaning as in section 28-318;11
(24) Offers or enters into a right-to-list home sale agreement as12
defined in section 81-885.01; or 13
(25) Violates section 81-2,282; or . 14
(26)(i) With respect to a social media platform that accepts15
payment, or any other form of compensation or thing of value, for16
advertising on its platform: 17
(A) Fails to establish and implement: 18
(I) Identity verification for advertisers; 19
(II) Unlawful impersonation detection and mitigation program;20
(III) Automated and manual fraud detection systems;21
(IV) Measures to prevent repeated offenses by the same advertiser;22
(V) A clear and conspicuous tool for users to report suspected23
fraud; and 24
(VI) A process for law enforcement to report suspected fraudulent25
advertisements; 26
(B) After a fraudulent advertisement is reported either by a user or27
law enforcement, within seven days: 28
(I) Fails to investigate and determine if such advertisement29
constitutes a fraudulent advertisement; 30
(II) If determined to be a fraudulent advertisement, fails to31
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immediately remove the reported fraudulent advertisement from its1
platform; or 2
(III) If reported by law enforcement, regardless of action taken,3
fails to notify the submitter of the status of their report; or4
(C) Knowingly permit fraudulent advertisement on its platform or5
ignores credible reports that content on its platform constitutes6
fraudulent advertisement. 7
(ii) For purposes of this subdivision (a)(26):8
(A) Advertiser means any person who pays, or provides compensation9
or a thing of value, to advertise, promote, or otherwise increase10
impressions of ads or content on a social media platform;11
(B) Fraudulent advertisement means an ad or content that12
misrepresents material facts or unlawfully impersonates another in order13
to induce a transaction or extract a benefit, and a social media platform14
accepts payment, or any other form of compensation or thing of value, to15
advertise, promote, or otherwise increase impressions of the ad or16
content on its platform; and 17
(C) Social media platform means an electronic medium, including a18
browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, Internet19
website, telephone network, or data network, that allows an account20
holder to create, share, and view user-generated content for a21
substantial purpose of social interaction, sharing user-generated22
content, or personal networking. Social media platform does not include:23
(I) An Internet search provider; 24
(II) An Internet service provider; 25
(III) An email service; 26
(IV) A streaming service, online video game, e-commerce, or other27
Internet website where the content is not user generated but where28
interactive functions enable chat, comments, reviews, or other29
interactive functionality that is incidental to, directly related to, or30
dependent upon providing the content; 31
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(V) A communication service, including text, audio, or video1
communication technology, provided by a business to the business's2
employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and3
not for public distribution, except that social media platform includes a4
communication service provided by a social media platform;5
(VI) An advertising network with the sole function of delivering6
commercial content; 7
(VII) A telecommunications carrier as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153;8
(VIII) A broadband Internet access service as defined in 47 C.F.R.9
8.1(b); 10
(IX) Single-purpose community groups for education or public safety;11
(X) Teleconferencing or video-conferencing services that allow12
reception and transmission of audio and video signals for real-time13
communication, except that social media platform includes14
teleconferencing or video-conferencing services provided by a social15
media platform; 16
(XI) Cloud computing services, which may include cloud storage and17
shared document collaboration; 18
(XII) Providing or obtaining technical support for a platform,19
product, or service; or 20
(XIII) A platform designed primarily and specifically for creative21
professional users, as distinct from the general public, to share their22
portfolio and creative content, engage in professional networking,23
acquire clients, and market the creative professional user's creative24
content and creative services through facilitated transactions.25
(b) In order to prevail in an action under the Uniform Deceptive26
Trade Practices Act, a complainant need not prove competition between the27
parties. 28
(c) This section does not affect unfair trade practices otherwise29
actionable at common law or under other statutes of this state.30
Sec. 2. Original section 87-302, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2025,31
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is repealed. 1
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