House Bill 323 Summary

• Creates the "Stop Social Media Censorship Act" establishing a private right of action for users of social media websites with over 75 million subscribers if content is purposely deleted, censored, or disfavored through algorithms based on religious or political speech.

• Provides minimum statutory damages of $75,000 per purposeful deletion or censoring, plus actual damages, punitive damages if aggravating factors exist, and attorney's fees for prevailing plaintiffs.

• Exempts social media websites from liability for removing content that calls for violence, self-harm, is obscene or harmful to minors, results from court order, involves false impersonation, entices criminal conduct, or involves minors bullying minors.

• Prohibits social media websites from using alleged "hate speech" (defined as content an individual finds offensive based on personal moral code) as a defense or justification for censoring speech.

• Applies only to users 18 years or older and allows civil actions to be filed in district court where the user resides or has their principal place of business.