A tech industry group that has challenged Florida’s social media law in court is opposing new legislation called the “Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights.”
The Computer & Communications Industry Association sent a three-page letter to the Florida Senate on Friday saying the legislation would “impose a sprawling and fragmented regulatory regime that risks chilling innovation, undermining free expression and significantly out of step with recommended federal and international approaches to the governance of artificial intelligence.”
Government Ron DeSantis has prioritized what he has called an AI bill, and Sen. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, introduced such a bill (SB 482) last month. Rep. Alex Rizo, R-Hialeah, introduced an identical House bill (HB 1395) on Friday.
The legislation proposes to create an ‘Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights’ to regulate the use of AI by Florida residents
The legislation addresses a variety of issues, such as establishing a ‘right’ for parents to control children’s interactions with artificial intelligence; saying that people have the right to know when they are communicating with a human, an AI system or a chatbot; and setting rules about the unauthorized AI-generated use of people’s names, images or likenesses.
The letter from the Computer & Communications Industry Association said in part that the legislation would create an “overly broad and vague regulatory scope.”
“SB 482 relies on broad and imprecise definitions of ‘artificial intelligence,’ ‘artificial intelligence technology company,’ ‘bot,’ and ‘companion chatbot’ that would encompass a wide range of common digital tools, including customer service chat features, workplace productivity software, education platforms, accessibility technologies, and automated moderation or safety tools,” said the letter, signed by Tom Mann, a state policy manager for the association. “These technologies differ significantly in function, risk profile and user interaction, but the bill treats them as functionally equivalent.”
In another example, the letter took issue with a section of legislation that would place restrictions on so-called “companion chatbots,” which provide human-like responses and can maintain relationships across multiple interactions.
The letter states that parts of the legislation on companion chatbots, “particularly as applied to minors, raise significant concerns about privacy, expression and proportionality.”
“In practice, SB 482 would push providers toward blunt, exclusionary design choices rather than encouraging thoughtful, risk-based protections tailored to specific harms,” the association said.
President Donald Trump last month issued an executive order trying to avoid state-by-state regulation of AI. But DeSantis has expressed confidence that Florida can move forward with restrictions that can withstand a federal legal challenge.
During a appearance Monday at Broward College in DavieDeSantis said the state has a responsibility to ensure that AI technology is ethical and “reinforces our values as both Floridians and Americans.”
“We want to make sure that Floridians don’t fall victim to this AI revolution that’s happening,” DeSantis said.
With the annual legislative session beginning Tuesday, it is unclear when the Senate and House of Representatives committees will consider the bills.
Tech groups are embroiled in lawsuits over Florida laws restricting social media
The Computer & Communications Industry Association and another industry group, NetChoice, are embroiled in battles in federal court against two state laws that placed restrictions on social media platforms.
They are challenging a 2021 law that, among other things, bars platforms from banning political candidates from their sites and requires companies to publish — and consistently apply — standards on things like banning users or blocking their content. DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law after Facebook and Twitter, now known as blocked Trump from their platforms after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association are also issuing a challenge Law of 2024 designed to prevent children from accessing certain social media sites. They claim the law violates the First Amendment.
The law prohibits children under the age of 14 from opening accounts on certain platforms — which court documents show could include platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Parents would have to give permission for 14 and 15 year olds to have accounts on the platforms.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association website lists several members, such as Amazon, Google and Meta.
— News Service staff writer Jim Turner contributed to this report.
