State Senate: Democratic majority
State House: Democratic majority
Governor: Wes Moore (D)
Attorney General: Anthony Brown (D)
Summary:
Solid-blue Maryland has considered many speech-related bills and other states, and has recently progressed on efforts to protect student-organized demonstrations, require disclosures when AI is used on certain websites, and allow parents to monitor their children’s online activity, the latter of which was signed into law in May 2024.
Key Policymakers:
- Del. Jared Solomon [D] and Sen. Benjamin Kramer [D]
Legislative Activity:
HJR 5: A resolution reaffirming the Maryland General Assembly’s commitment to free speech, academic freedom, and open public discourse; and upholding the right of individuals to express views on matters of foreign policy. Introduced by Del. Ashanti Martinez [D] in February 2024 but did not advance.
HB 495 (2022): A bill for the purpose of prohibiting a public school from prohibiting a student from organizing or participating in a student–organized peaceful demonstration, imposing certain limits on a student’s right to free speech while participating in a student–organized peaceful demonstration, or disciplining a student for organizing or participating in a student–organized peaceful demonstration under certain circumstances; requiring each county board of education to develop a written policy regarding student–organized peaceful demonstrations; and generally relating to student–organized peaceful demonstrations and student discipline. A Democrat-only bill introduced by Del. Eric Ebersole [D] in January 2022 and passed the House along partisan lines, but did not advance to the senate.
HB 1037 (2021): Requires certain websites that practice political censorship to file a certain report with the State Board of Elections within 7 days after first practicing political censorship; providing that political censorship is considered to be a contribution to each candidate, political party, or question that benefits from the political censorship for purposes of this Act; providing that political censorship may not be considered to be a contribution to each candidate, political party, or question that benefits from the political censorship for purposes of certain provisions of law; authorizing the State Board to assess a civil penalty not exceeding a certain amount on certain websites that fail to file certain reports; providing for certain matters concerning the civil penalty. Additionally it authorizes the State Board to adopt regulations to implement this Act. Introduced by Del. Mark Fisher [R] in February 2021 but did not advance.
HB 1368 (2022): Prohibiting a social media website from taking certain actions to censor the religious speech or political speech of a certain user; authorizing the Attorney General to bring a certain civil cause of action under certain circumstances; providing that a certain violation of the Act is an unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practice that is subject to certain penalties; and requiring a social media website to publish certain rules and policies. Republican-only bill introduced by Del. Dan Cox [R] in February 2022 but did not advance.
SB 978: Requiring certain persons that publish, distribute, or disseminate synthetic media to publish on their website the original content that was manipulated to generate the synthetic media; and requiring certain persons that publish, distribute, or disseminate synthetic media to include a certain disclosure in a certain manner. Introduced by Sen. Katie Hester [D] in February 2024 and passed the senate by a unanimous vote in March.
HB 254: Regulating children’s social media accounts on large social media platforms in the State; requiring large social media platforms to identify all public social media accounts created or operated by unauthorized minors and delete all associated user data; penalizing a large social media platform that violates the Act with a fine of $100,000 per violation to be deposited in the Digital Citizenship Fund; providing the purpose of the Fund is to assist county boards of education with investing in digital citizenship programs. Democrat-only bill introduced by Del. David Fraser-hidalgo [D] in January 2023 but has not advanced.
HB 645/ SB 1162: Requiring a vlogger who creates video content that is posted on a social media platform and features a certain minor child to compensate the child under certain circumstances; establishing requirements on social media platforms relating to deleting video content featuring minor children; applying certain requirements related to the labor of minors to children compensated by vloggers. Introduced by Del. Jazz Lewis [D] and Sen. Clarence Lam [D] in February 2024 but has not advanced.
HB 603/ SB 571 (Signed into Law):: Requiring a certain entity that offers an online product reasonably likely to be accessed by children to complete a certain data protection impact assessment by April 1, 2026, under certain circumstances; requiring certain privacy protections for certain online products; prohibiting certain data collection and sharing practices; authorizing certain monitoring practices to allow a child’s parent or guardian to monitor the child’s online activity or location without providing an obvious signal to the child. Introduced by Del. Jared Solomon [D] and Sen. Benjamin Kramer [D] in January 2024, passed both chambers unanimously, and signed into law on May 9, 2024.
