Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1086
By Senator Garcia
36-00575-24 20241086__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to defamation; creating s. 770.001,
3 F.S.; providing applicability; amending s. 770.05,
4 F.S.; providing proper venue in a county where
5 defamatory material was accessed by a third party;
6 making technical changes; creating s. 770.09, F.S.;
7 providing that publication of certain media forms the
8 basis of a defamation action; creating s. 770.11,
9 F.S.; providing a short title; defining terms;
10 prohibiting journalists and media outlets from
11 knowingly publishing or disseminating a false
12 narrative or defamatory material about a public
13 figure; providing that quotes or soundbites out of
14 context are considered a violation; providing
15 applicability; providing an alternative standard of
16 proof for actions where the defendant does not
17 identify the source of the defamatory material or when
18 the defamatory action is unrelated to a plaintiff’s
19 status as a public figure; requiring journalists and
20 media outlets to offer public figures all conditions,
21 rights, and remedies found in law; providing
22 applicability; providing severability; providing an
23 effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Section 770.001, Florida Statutes, is created to
28 read:
29 770.001 Definition.—As used in this chapter, an action for
30 defamation includes actions for libel, slander, false
31 narratives, and related causes of action.
32 Section 2. Section 770.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to
33 read:
34 770.05 Venue for defamation actions Limitation of choice of
35 venue.—
36 (1) A No person may not shall have more than one choice of
37 venue for damages for libel or slander, invasion of privacy, or
38 any other tort founded upon any single publication, exhibition,
39 or utterance, such as any one edition of a newspaper, book, or
40 magazine, any one presentation to an audience, any one broadcast
41 over radio or television, or any one exhibition of a motion
42 picture. Recovery in any action includes shall include all
43 damages for any such tort suffered by the plaintiff in all
44 jurisdictions.
45 (2) Venue for a cause of action for defamation is proper in
46 a county identified in s. 47.011, including any county where the
47 defamatory material is accessed by a third party.
48 Section 3. Section 770.09, Florida Statutes, is created to
49 read:
50 770.09 Defamation by publication of photograph, video, or
51 audio recording.—The publication of a photograph, video, or
52 audio recording, regardless of whether altered or unaltered, may
53 form the basis of a defamation action.
54 Section 4. Section 770.11, Florida Statutes, is created to
55 read:
56 770.11 Defamation of public figures.—
57 (1) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the
58 “Protection of Public Figures from False Narratives and
59 Defamation Law.”
60 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
61 (a) “Defamation” means a false statement that harms a
62 public figure’s reputation, including both written and spoken
63 statements. For the purpose of the act, defamation includes
64 statements from a public figure taken out of context.
65 (b) “False narrative” means intentionally misleading or
66 inaccurate representations of a public figure’s actions,
67 statements, or character to place them in a false light.
68 (c) “Journalist” means a person regularly engaged in
69 collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing,
70 reporting, or publishing news, for gain or livelihood, who seeks
71 and obtains information while working as an employee of, or
72 independent contractor for, a media outlet.
73 (d) “Media outlet” means a newspaper, news journal, news
74 agency, press association, wire service, radio or television
75 station, streaming platform, network, or news magazine.
76 (e) “Public figure” means a notable person of public
77 interest or familiarity, including, but not limited to, a
78 government official, politician, celebrity, business leader,
79 movie star, or athlete.
80 (3) PROHIBITION OF FALSE NARRATIVE AND DEFAMATION;
81 DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS; BURDENS OF PROOF.—A journalist or media
82 outlet may not knowingly publish or disseminate a false
83 narrative or defamatory material about a public figure. For the
84 purposes of this section, taking a quote or soundbite out of
85 context or out of sequence to create a false narrative, is
86 considered a violation of this section.
87 (a) A defamatory allegation is made with actual malice for
88 purposes of a defamation action if any of the following apply:
89 1. The defamatory allegation is fabricated by the
90 defendant, is the product of his or her imagination, is based
91 wholly on an unverified, anonymous report, or based on
92 statements made by the plaintiff when said out of context.
93 2. The defamatory allegation is so inherently improbable
94 that only a reckless person would put it into circulation.
95 3. The defamatory allegation was made using the plaintiff’s
96 own words taken out of context to create a false narrative or
97 defamatory material.
98 4. The defamatory allegation was based on an informant or
99 an informant’s report, and there are obvious reasons to doubt
100 the veracity of the informant or his or her report. Obvious
101 reasons exist to doubt the veracity of a report if:
102 a. There is sufficient contrary evidence that was known or
103 should have been known to the defendant after a reasonable
104 investigation;
105 b. The informant has a history of being unreliable or
106 untruthful; or
107 c. The report is inherently improbable or implausible on
108 its face, and is not presented as satire.
109 (b) If the actual malice standard otherwise applies to a
110 defamation action in which the defendant does not identify the
111 source for the defamatory material, the plaintiff need only
112 prove that the defendant acted negligently in making the
113 defamatory material.
114 (c) In a defamation action based on alleged defamatory
115 material that does not relate to the reasons for the plaintiff’s
116 status as a public figure, the plaintiff need only prove that
117 the defendant acted negligently in making, repeating, or
118 republishing the defamatory material.
119 (4) OBLIGATIONS OF JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA OUTLETS; REMEDIES
120 FOR PUBLIC FIGURES.—A journalist or a media outlet must afford a
121 public figure all conditions, rights, and remedies required
122 under ss. 770.01 and 770.02.
123 (5) SATIRE.—This section does not apply to media
124 publications or journalists that present a satire or satirical
125 story regarding or involving a public figure.
126 (6) SEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS.—In case any one or more of
127 the sections or provisions of this act or the application of
128 such sections or provisions to any situations, circumstances, or
129 persons shall for any reason be held to be unconstitutional,
130 such unconstitutionality shall not affect any other sections or
131 provisions of this act or the applications of such sections or
132 provisions to any other situations, circumstances, or persons,
133 and it is intended that this law shall be construed and applied
134 as if such sections or provisions had not been included herein
135 for any unconstitutional application.
136 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.