A.G. Gancarski
Speaker Pro Tempore Wyman Duggan is introducing two pieces of legislation designed to protect vulnerable Floridians from victimization.
One bill (HB 1161) would compel the removal of altered sexual depictions posted to the internet without consent. It’s called “Brooke’s law,” in recognition of a crime committed against a teenager in his hometown of Jacksonville.
The bill would obligate internet platforms to develop and prominently promote a policy for removal of deepfake images and videos of this type by the end of the year, after a person victimized attests to being a target. It expands on legislation championed by former Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, which imposed criminal and civil penalties by creating law to force sites to take the objectionable image down.
“It gives them a mechanism to make a demand on the website to take it down, and if they don’t take it down, the website will be liable under the Florida Unfair Trade and Deceptive Practices Act, which provides for attorneys fees and damages,” Duggan said.
“It’s trying to close the loop on protecting people, typically young women and girls who are in that scenario where a picture of them appears on some website and it’s their face on a body that’s not theirs and it’s nude and it circulates.”
Duggan’s other measure (HB 1171) increases the statute of limitations on offenses against children by starting the clock when a law enforcement agency is informed of the allegations.
Duggan says State Attorney Melissa Nelson of the 4th Judicial Circuit backs that bill, which is intended to give people protection when an institution — such as a church, day care or other organization — fails to report an accusation of which leadership is aware. By timing the statute of limitations to reporting, law enforcement will have time to investigate the claims of impropriety.
