Corey Simon, a Republican State Senator from Tallahassee, has proposed new legislation aimed at making journalists more accountable if they publish erroneous information. His proposed bill, also known as SB 752, received approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee just this Wednesday. Simon asserts that the media needs to uphold certain standards, and he believes his bill would ensure this. The intention behind the bill is to eliminate the perceived misuse of the ‘fair report privilege’ media professionals currently enjoy.
The ‘fair report privilege’ in its current form protects journalists from libel suits, so long as they deliver reports that are fair and accurate. However, the proposed SB 752 could significantly change the media landscape. If it passes, the bill would permit lawsuits against media outlets that refuse to remove inaccurate online stories about individuals. This course of action could be taken if the media outlet refuses to correct or remove said stories.
Barry Richard, a prominent attorney, has expressed his concerns over the media’s distinctive privilege, one that ordinary citizens do not have. He referred to a seven-year-old instance when a Miami man was wrongly accused of a crime and the news station stubbornly refused to take down the scandalous story. He questioned the fairness of this system, asking why media outlets shouldn’t be held to the same accountability standards as everyone else.
During that barrel-scraping incident, Richard acted as the falsely accused man’s legal counsel and tried to persuade the media companies to remove the inappropriate write-up from their platforms to protect the innocent man’s reputation. Most outlets complied with the request and pulled down the story; however, one outlet did not acquiesce. Richard used this incidence as an example to support the necessity of legislative changes proposed by Senator Simon.
Simon’s bill, if transformed into law, would require an almost immediate removal of such false or outdated stories from the internet, upon realization of their inaccuracies. This responsibility would fall on news agencies as well as individual journalists. Moreover, content that exploits a person’s name or likeness without obtaining their prior consent would also fall in the purview of prohibited content.
The SB 752 bill does not pertain solely to conventional news outlets; it would also bind social media bloggers to its stipulations. This extension of coverage underscores the law’s objective to safeguard individuals from false information, irrespective of the platform it’s published on.
Yet, the suggested legislation has drawn its fair share of detractors. Critics argue that the bill violates constitutional rights. Democrat Senator Tina Polsky, from Boca Raton, has publicly voiced her opposition to SB 752, stating that the bill’s provisions exceed what is reasonable and just.
Polsky also points out that journalists often report based on the information available at the time, and they shouldn’t be held culpable for the inaccuracies that surface later. She sees Simon’s bill as a misuse of defamation law and has questioned its potential effectiveness.
The Senator brought up the issue of the ‘original article’ that remains on the internet even after its removal from a media outlet. She voiced her concern, ‘If the original post is not removed entirely from the internet, how does it ultimately benefit the person wrongly accused?’ This question opens a wider dialogue about the propagation of false narratives on the internet and their long-lasting impact.
Contrary to the criticism received, the measure managed to win its first committee vote. The bill’s current draft would avoid inflicting any direct penalties on journalists. However, it could potentially open the floodgates for people to sue reporters and their associated news agency for defamation if they make false claims.
Simon’s proposed legislation rests on the idea that credibility within journalism should be paramount. Moreover, it pushes for people’s rights to have incorrect information about them be corrected or removed entirely, echoing the frequently invoked right to be forgotten. Regardless of the opposition, the bill’s proponents maintain that it aims to uphold journalistic integrity and help individuals who have been falsely accused or misrepresented in news reports.
The battle lines are drawn, and the arguments are being heard. As the legislation stands now, the bill is designed to offer a recourse for the unwitting victims of inaccurate journalism. The intent is to ensure that if such a false report is circulating, the individual concerned can demand its removal.
But the larger question equates to a bitter debate over freedom of speech versus the right to personal reputation. With this bill, Florida’s legislators are attempting to tip the balance in favor of the latter, emphasising an individual’s right to protection from false information.