The federal Fairness Doctrine fight is the long game. But your state can act today — without waiting for Congress. Governors, Attorneys General, and state legislatures have real legal authority over consumer fraud, platform transparency, business disruption, and media accountability right now. We are calling on them to use it.
Federal legislation moves slowly — often by design. But disinformation moves in real time. The good news: states are not powerless. They have existing legal tools, they can create new ones, and they can act immediately. Twenty-four states introduced or passed some form of social media or disinformation-related legislation between 2023 and 2025 alone.
The original Fairness Doctrine was a federal regulation of federally licensed broadcasters. Its repeal in 1987 removed a federal floor — but it never preempted state authority. States retain broad power under their consumer protection laws, business fraud statutes, and general police powers to regulate conduct that deceives or harms their residents. And several states are already using that power.
California passed the Social Media Accountability and Transparency Act, requiring the largest platforms to report twice annually to the state Attorney General on how they define and respond to disinformation, hate speech, and foreign interference — with fines of up to $15,000 per day for non-compliance. That law covers platforms operating across the entire country because California's market is too large to walk away from.
This is the California Effect: a determined state with a large population can effectively set a national standard. It has happened with car emissions, data privacy, and financial disclosure. It can happen with media accountability too — and it does not require the other 49 states to sit idle while California leads. Every state has its own tools. This petition demands that every state use them.
States cannot directly regulate federal broadcast licenses — that is the FCC's domain. But they can regulate consumer fraud, deceptive business practices, business disruption, platform transparency, data use, algorithmic accountability, and local advertising standards. These are enormous levers. They have barely been pulled. This petition demands that state officials stop treating disinformation as a federal problem and start treating it as a consumer protection emergency within their own jurisdiction.
Federal Section 230 gives platforms broad immunity from liability for third-party content — but it does not immunize them from transparency requirements, reporting mandates, consumer protection investigations, or liability for their own first-party conduct. States can require disclosure. States can investigate deceptive practices. States can mandate algorithmic audits. None of that requires touching Section 230.
These are not aspirational. Every item below represents an existing category of state legal authority — already used in at least one state or supported by established legal precedent. This is a menu of tools available today.
Every state has three offices that matter most for this fight. Here is what each one can do, and what to demand from each one specifically.
The AG is your highest-leverage target. They have immediate investigative authority under existing consumer protection statutes. They can launch investigations, issue subpoenas, file civil suits, and join multi-state coalitions — without a single new law being passed.
Demand: A formal investigation into documented patterns of knowing disinformation by platforms and broadcasters reaching your state's residents, using existing consumer fraud authority.
Governors control state advertising budgets and procurement. They can immediately redirect state dollars away from platforms and networks with documented disinformation records. They can create task forces and direct AGs. They can set the public agenda.
Demand: An executive order establishing truthfulness standards for any media entity receiving state advertising funds, and creation of a State Disinformation Accountability Task Force.
State legislators introduce bills, hold hearings, and create public pressure. They can pass platform transparency mandates, business disruption statutes, media literacy requirements, and civil accountability laws — all within state jurisdiction and all compatible with existing federal law.
Demand: Introduction and passage of a State Media Accountability Act covering platform transparency, algorithmic disclosure, business disruption, and a civil right of action for victims of documented disinformation campaigns.
Find your State AG at naag.org/find-my-ag | Find your Governor at nga.org | Find your State Legislators at openstates.org | All three contacts will be requested in the petition form below.
We are calling on every state legislature to introduce and pass a version of the following framework. It is drafted to work within existing constitutional and federal law constraints — specifically designed to survive First Amendment and Section 230 challenges based on current court precedent.
Any social media platform with more than 250,000 active state resident users shall submit a semi-annual report to the State Attorney General disclosing: how the platform defines disinformation; how automated systems detect and act on flagged content; the number and category of flagged posts seen by state residents; and how the platform responds to documented foreign influence operations. Failure to submit: $10,000/day per violation.
The State AG shall have authority to commission independent algorithmic audits of any covered platform, to be conducted by certified auditors, examining whether recommendation systems systematically amplify content the platform's own internal systems have flagged as false or harmful. Audit results shall be published publicly. Platforms shall bear the cost of audits where material violations are found.
It shall be a Class A misdemeanor (first offense) and Class E felony (subsequent offenses) to knowingly use a public broadcast or social media platform to organize, direct, or incite a group of people to physically disrupt, harass, or damage a private business, residence, or event in the state without that party's consent, for the purpose of generating views, engagement, or revenue. Civil liability to the damaged party is additionally established.
Any state resident who suffers documented economic, physical, or reputational harm as a direct result of a knowingly false claim broadcast to a public audience by an identifiable individual or organization — where the broadcaster knew the claim was false at the time of broadcast — shall have a private right of action in state civil court, with damages including actual harm, disgorgement of disinformation-derived revenue, and attorney's fees.
All public K–12 schools shall include age-appropriate media literacy instruction in their curriculum beginning no later than 3rd grade. Instruction shall include: identification of disinformation and propaganda techniques; source evaluation; the distinction between news and opinion; the history and documented effects of state-sponsored disinformation; and practical skills for verifying claims before sharing them. State education boards shall develop and annually update standards.
These provisions are carefully scoped. Article I is a transparency and reporting requirement — California's near-identical law survived initial legal challenges. Article II is an investigative audit authority, not a content restriction. Article III targets organizing conduct, not speech. Article IV creates civil liability only for knowing falsehood causing documented harm — the standard courts have long upheld for fraud and defamation. Article V is an education mandate — entirely within state authority over public schools.
Section 230 immunizes platforms from liability for third-party content. It does not immunize them from: (1) their own first-party conduct, (2) transparency and reporting obligations, (3) state consumer protection investigations, or (4) civil liability for their own algorithmic amplification decisions when they knowingly boost internally-flagged false content. Articles I, II, and the platform component of IV are specifically drafted around these exceptions.
While legislatures act, Governors can move today: cease all state advertising on platforms and networks with documented, repeated patterns of knowing disinformation; direct the AG to open a consumer protection investigation; create a Governor's Disinformation Advisory Council with a 90-day report mandate. None of this requires a legislative vote.
The movement is already underway. Several states are leading, several more have active legislation pending, and the rest are targets. Find your state and see where it stands — then sign the petition to push it further.
State officials respond to constituent pressure faster than federal officials. Your state legislature is more accessible, your AG is more reachable, and your Governor's office answers the phone. Here is how to apply pressure that works.
This petition is routed by Action Network to your Governor, State AG, and state legislators based on the state you provide. A signature from a constituent carries more weight than any lobbying dollar. Volume of constituent demand changes what politicians think is politically safe to support.
Every state AG has a consumer protection division with a public phone number. Call it. Tell them you are requesting a formal investigation into documented disinformation patterns by named platforms and networks targeting your state. Calls are logged. Volume is reported upward. This is how investigations begin.
Platform accountability bills almost always go through judiciary or commerce committees. These hearings are public and open for testimony. Showing up matters — empty hearing rooms tell legislators nobody cares. Full rooms tell them the opposite.
State legislators are significantly more accessible than their federal counterparts. A constituent requesting a meeting gets one far more often than people expect. Bring one specific ask: "I want you to introduce the State Media Accountability Act." A specific bill request is something a legislator can act on. Vague concern is something they can file away.
Local news outlets cover state legislative activity. A letter to the editor, a tip to a reporter covering the legislature, or a social media post tagging your state officials directly creates a public record. State politicians read their local coverage. Getting this issue into regional news cycles is disproportionately effective compared to national noise.
The most powerful thing you can do is get a friend with different political views to sign. A petition that shows bipartisan constituent demand is nearly impossible for a politician to dismiss. Share this page specifically with people who disagree with you on other issues but share a basic interest in knowing what is true.
This petition is delivered directly to your Governor, Attorney General, and state legislators. Your signature — as their constituent — is the most direct form of democratic pressure available. Use it.
Your signature is delivered as constituent demand to your Governor, Attorney General, and state legislators. These are the officials with the most immediate power to act — and they respond to constituent pressure faster than any federal office.
State Petition Agreement: I call on my Governor to issue an executive order creating a State Disinformation Accountability Task Force and directing state advertising dollars away from outlets with documented patterns of knowing disinformation. I call on my State Attorney General to immediately open a consumer protection investigation into documented disinformation practices by platforms and broadcasters reaching state residents. I call on my state legislature to introduce and pass a State Media Accountability Act establishing platform transparency mandates, algorithmic audit authority, business disruption criminal penalties, a civil right of action for disinformation victims, and mandatory K–12 media literacy education.
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