HB 667 — Liability for Defamatory Statements

F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S HBCS/HB 667 2025 A bill to be entitled An act relating to liability for defamatory statements;

requiring that certain articles or broadcasts be removed from thespecified Internetwebsites within a specified period to limit damages for defamation;

requiring removal of defamatory statements from thespecified Internetwebsites in certain circumstances;

SubsectionSubsections (1) and (2) of section 770.02, Florida Statutes, isare amended to read:

and that, within the period of time specified in subsection (2), a full and fair correction, Page 1 of 34 CODING:

hb667-00hb667-01-c1 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S HBCS/HB 667 2025 apology, or retraction was, in the case of a newspaper or periodical, published in the same editions or corresponding issues of the newspaper or periodical in which said article appeared and in as conspicuous place and type as said original article or, in the case of a broadcast, the correction, apology, or retraction was broadcast at a comparable time, then the plaintiff in such case shall recover only actual damages.

For purposes of this section, if such an article or broadcast has been published on the Internet, the article or broadcast must be permanently removed from any website over which the Internetnewspaper, broadcaster, or periodical has control within the time period provided in paragraph (2)(a) in order to limit recovery to actual damages as provided in this section.

(2) Full and fair correction, apology, or retraction shall be made:

(a) In the case of a broadcast or a daily or weekly newspaper or periodical, within 10 days after service of notice.;

(b) In the case of a newspaper or periodical published semimonthly, within 20 days after service of notice.;

(c) In the case of a newspaper or periodical published monthly, within 45 days after service of notice.;

and (d) In the case of a newspaper or periodical published less frequently than monthly, in the next issue, provided notice is served no later than 45 days before prior to such Page 2 of 4 CODING:

Words stricken are deletions;

words underlined are additions.

hb667-01-c1 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S CS/HB 667 2025 publication.

care to prevent publication or utterance required.— (1) The owner, licensee, or operator of a radio or television broadcasting station or a newspaper, and the agents or employees of any such owner, licensee, or operator, are shall not be liable for any damages for any defamatory statement published or uttered in or as a part of a radio or television broadcast or newspaper article, by one other than such owner, licensee, or operator, or general agent or employees thereof, unless it is shall be alleged and proved by the complaining party, that such owner, Pagelicensee, 2operator, general agent, or employee, has failed to exercise due care to prevent the publication or utterance of 3such CODING:statement in such broadcasts or newspaper articles, provided, however, the exercise of due care shall be construed to include the bona fide compliance with any federal law or the regulation of any federal regulatory agency.

(2) When an owner, a licensee, or an operator described in subsection (1) publishes a defamatory statement on the Internet with no knowledge of falsity of the statement and thereafter receives notice that such statement has been found in a judicial proceeding to be false, or receives notice of facts that would Page 3 of 4 CODING:

hb667-00hb667-01-c1 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S HBCS/HB 667 2025 licensee,cause operator,a generalreasonable agent,person orto employee,conclude hasthat failedsuch statement was false, and the owner, licensee, or operator fails to exercisetake duereasonable caresteps to preventpermanently remove the publicationstatement and any related report from any website over which the newspaper, broadcaster, or utteranceperiodical has control, the continued appearance of such statement inor report on such broadcastwebsite orafter articlethe broadcasts,notice provided,is however,a thenew exercisepublication offor duepurpose careof shallthe bestatute construedof tolimitations, includeand the bonaowner, fidelicensee, complianceor withoperator anyshall federalnot lawbe orentitled theto regulationa offair anyreporting federalprivilege regulatoryfor agency.such new publication;

(2) When an owner, a licensee, or an operator described in subsection (1) publishes a defamatory statement on the Internet with no knowledge of falsity of the statement and thereafter receives notice that such statement has been found in a judicial proceeding to be false, or receives notice of facts that would cause a reasonable person to conclude that such statement was false, and the owner, licensee, or operator fails to take reasonable steps to permanently remove the statement and any related report from the Internet, the continued appearance of such statement or report on the Internet after the notice shall be a new publication for purpose of the statute of limitations, and the owner, licensee, or operator shall not be entitled to a fair reporting privilege for such new publication;

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