Honorable Ryan Guillen, Chair, House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3134 by Shaheen (Relating to requiring social media platform operators to identify and notify law enforcement of credible threats of violence published on their platforms; creating a criminal offense.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would create a Class A misdemeanor offense for a social media platform operator who identifies in good faith or is notified about a credible threat of violence and fails to notify the appropriate law enforcement authority; archive, record, or otherwise preserve the relevant content; remove the offending content from being publicly accessible; and take any appropriate action against the offending user account in accordance with the social media platform's published acceptable use policy. The penalty would be increased to a state jail felony if the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly.
While it is assumed that any fiscal impact and any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant, it would be dependent on the prevalence of conduct that would constitute an offense under the bill.
Local Government Impact
While it is assumed that any fiscal impact to units of local government associated with enforcement, prosecution, supervision, or confinement would not be significant, it would be dependent on the prevalence of conduct that would constitute an offense under the bill.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts