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Maryland Statutes § 2-110 Election misinformation

⤴ Up to Subtitle 1: State Board

Statute Text

(a)
(1) [(1)] In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.
(2) [section the following words have the meanings indicated.]
[(2) "Election disinformation" means incorrect or misleading information about election procedures, section, "election] "Election disinformation" means incorrect or misleading information regarding the time, place, or manner of an election, election results, or voting rights in the State that is knowingly and deliberately disseminated.
(3) "Election misinformation" means incorrect or misleading information regarding the time, place, or manner of an election, election results, or voting rights in the State.
[(3) (i) "Large social media platform" means a service provided to the public through an Internet website or a mobile application that:]
[1. has more than 1,000,000 monthly active users in the United States; or]
[2. generates more than $500,000,000 in annual gross revenue, adjusted annually for inflation.]
[(ii) "Large social media platform" does not include:]
[1. a service that is primarily used for:]
[A. the sale or provision of professional services; or]
[B. the sale of commercial products; or]
[2. a press organization or a website owned or controlled by a press organization.]
[(b) Each large social media platform shall make reasonable efforts to prevent, detect, and remove accounts and posts that communicate election disinformation in the State.]
[(c) Within 48 hours after a large social media platform becomes aware of an account or a post that communicates election disinformation, the large social media platform shall report the election disinformation by providing the following to the State Board, if known:]
[(1) the name of the account responsible for the communication or the post;]
[(2) the dates and times that the communication was first disseminated and last disseminated;]
[(3) a digital copy of the content of the communication;]
[(4) an approximate description of the geographic locations to which the communication was disseminated;]
[(5) an approximate description of the audience that received or was targeted to receive the communication; and]
[(6) the total number of impressions generated by the communication.]
[(d) As soon as practicable after receiving a report under subsection (c) of this section, the State Board shall:]
[(1) make the information available on the State Board's website; and]
[(2) make a reasonable attempt to contact the individuals or entities that received the communication in order to notify the individuals or entities of the nature of the communication.]
[(e) (1) In addition to any other sanction provided by law, if a large social media platform fails to file a report under this section, the State Board may assess a civil penalty against the large social media platform in an amount not exceeding:]
[(i) $10,000 for a first offense;]
[(ii) $25,000 for a second offense; and]
[(iii) $50,000 for a third or subsequent offense.]
[(2) A penalty under this subsection shall be:]
[(i) assessed in the manner specified in § 13-604.1 of this title;]
[(ii) distributed to the Fair Campaign Financing Fund established under § 15-103 of this article; and]
[(iii) the joint and several liability of:]
[1. the person who operates the large social media platform; and]
[2. any person exercising direction or control over the activities of the person who operates the large social media platform.]
(b)
(1) The State Board shall maintain a portal on the State Board's website that the public may use to report election misinformation and election disinformation.
(2) The State Board shall conduct a periodic review of material submitted by the public through the portal and, to the extent necessary, issue corrective information or refer submissions to the State Prosecutor.

History

Added by 2024 Md. Laws, Ch. 126 , Sec. 1 , eff. 6/1/2024 .

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