Florida SB 898: Online Media Transparency

Bill Text

898 
Online Media Transparency 
2025-12-15T03:54:43Z 
Creating the "Online Media Transparency Act"; requiring certain content creators to clearly and conspicuously disclose any sponsorship within any related media content; providing that failure to disclose a sponsorship constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or practice; requiring a content creator who receives sponsorship from a foreign principal of a foreign country to file a certain disclosure with the Department of State, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 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 Internet-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. Identify 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 goa