Bill Text: CA SB1504 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Bill 1504

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Cyberbullying Protection Act.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-03 - Set for hearing May 13. [SB1504 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB1504-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1504

Introduced by Senator Stern

February 16, 2024

An act to amend Sections 22589, 22589.1, 22589.2, and 22589.3 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to social media platforms.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1504, as introduced, Stern. Cyberbullying Protection Act.

The Cyberbullying Protection Act requires a social media platform to disclose all cyberbullying reporting procedures in the social media platform’s terms of service and to establish a mechanism within its internet-based service that allows an individual, whether or not that individual has a profile on the internet-based service, to report cyberbullying or content that violates the existing terms of service. The act defines “cyberbullying” to mean any severe or pervasive conduct made by an electronic act, as specified, committed by a pupil or group of pupils directed toward one or more pupils that has, or can reasonably be predicted to have, certain effects, including placing a reasonable pupil in fear of harm to that pupil’s person or property. The act makes a social media platform that violates its provisions liable for a civil penalty of not more than $7,500 for each intentional violation to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General.

This bill would generally apply the act’s provisions to minors rather than pupils and would define the phrase “severe or pervasive conduct” to mean content that, among other things, calls for self-injury or suicide of a minor or a specific person or of a group of individuals related to a minor. The bill would additionally require the mechanism required by the act to meet additional criteria, including that the mechanism provides, within 36 hours of receipt of a report, written confirmation to the reporting individual that the social media platform received that individual’s report. The bill would additionally authorize a minor to bring an action to enforce the act and would increase the civil penalty for violating the act to $75,000.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 22589 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22589.

For purposes of this ~~chapter, the following definitions apply:~~ chapter:

(a) (1) “Content” means statements or comments made by users and media that are created, posted, shared, or otherwise interacted with by users on an internet-based service or application.

(2) “Content” does not include media put on a service or application exclusively for the purpose of cloud storage, transmitting files, or file collaboration.

(b) “Cyberbullying” means any severe or pervasive conduct made by an electronic ~~act or acts,~~ act, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (r) of Section 48900 of the Education Code, committed by a ~~pupil~~ person or group of ~~pupils~~ people directed toward one or more ~~pupils~~ minors that ~~has~~ has, or can be reasonably predicted to ~~have~~ have, the effect of ~~one or more~~ any of the following:

(1) Placing a reasonable ~~pupil or pupils~~ minor in fear of harm to that ~~pupil’s or those pupils’~~ minor’s person or property.

(2) Causing a reasonable ~~pupil~~ minor to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the ~~pupil’s~~ minor’s physical or mental health.

(3) Causing a reasonable ~~pupil~~ minor to experience substantial interference with the ~~pupil’s~~ minor’s academic performance.

(4) Causing a reasonable ~~pupil~~ minor to experience substantial interference with the ~~pupil’s~~ minor’s ability to participate in in, or benefit ~~from~~ from, the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

(c) “Severe or pervasive conduct” includes content that does any of the following:
(1) Calls for self-injury or suicide of a minor or a specific person or of a group of individuals related to a minor.
(2) Attacks a minor based on the minor’s experience of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, or domestic abuse.
(3) Includes statements of intent to engage in a sexual activity or advocating to engage in a sexual activity with a minor.
(4) Threatens to release a minor’s telephone number, residential address, images, or email address.
(5) Calls for, or statements of intent to engage in, threats of violence, humiliation, or criminal activity against a minor.
(6) Degrades, or expresses disgust toward, a minor who is depicted in the process of, or right after, menstruating, urinating, vomiting, or defecating.
~~(c)~~

(d) “Social media platform” means a public or semipublic internet-based service or application that has users in California and that meets both of the following criteria:

(1) (A) A substantial function of the service or application is to connect users in order to allow users to interact socially with each other within the service or application.

(B) A service or application that provides email or direct messaging services shall not be considered to meet this criterion on the basis of that function alone.

(2) The service or application allows users to do all of the following:

(A) Construct a public or semipublic profile for purposes of signing into and using the service or application.

(B) Populate a list of other users with whom an individual shares a social connection within the system.

(C) Create or post content viewable by other users, including, but not limited to, on message boards, in chat rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that presents the user with content generated by other users.

~~(d)~~

(e) “Public or semipublic internet-based service or application” excludes a service or application used to facilitate communication within a business or enterprise among employees or affiliates of the business or enterprise, provided that access to the service or application is restricted to employees or affiliates of the business or enterprise using the service or application.

~~(e)~~

(f) “Terms of service” means a public-facing policy or set of policies adopted by a social media platform that specifies, at least, the user behavior and activities that are permitted on the social media platform and the user behavior and activities that may result in the social media platform taking action against the user or content.

SEC. 2.

Section 22589.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22589.1.

(a) A social media platform shall disclose all cyberbullying reporting procedures in the social media platform’s terms of service.

(b) (1) A social media platform shall establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows any individual, whether or not that individual has a profile on the internet-based service, to report cyberbullying or any content that violates the existing terms of ~~service. The reporting mechanism shall allow, but not require, an individual to upload a screenshot of the content that contains cyberbullying or violates the terms of service.~~ service related to cyberbullying.

(2) The mechanism required by this subdivision shall meet all of the following criteria:
(A) The mechanism shall allow, but not require, an individual to upload a screenshot of the content that contains cyberbullying or violates the terms of service related to cyberbullying.
(B) The mechanism shall include a method of contacting a reporting individual in writing by a method, including a telephone number for purposes of sending text messages or an email address, that meets both of the following criteria:
(i) The method is chosen by the reporting individual.
(ii) The method is not a method that is within the control of the social media platform.
(C) The mechanism provides, within 36 hours of receipt of a report, written confirmation to the reporting individual that the social media platform received that individual’s report.
(D) The mechanism issues a final written determination to the reporting user within 10 days of receiving the report stating one of the following:
(i) The reported material has been determined to be cyberbullying that was displayed, stored, or hosted on the social media platform and has been blocked from being viewable on the social media platform.
(ii) The reported material has been determined to be cyberbullying that was displayed, stored, or hosted on the social media platform and has not been, or will not be, blocked on the social media platform.
(iii) The reported material has been determined not to be cyberbullying.
(iv) The reported material has been determined not to be displayed, stored, or hosted on the social media platform.

SEC. 3.

Section 22589.2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22589.2.

Actions for relief pursuant to this chapter may be ~~prosecuted exclusively~~ brought by a minor in a civil action or in a ~~court of competent jurisdiction in a~~ civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General. ~~This chapter shall not be deemed to create a private right of action or limit any existing private right of action.~~

SEC. 4.

Section 22589.3 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

22589.3.

(a) (1) Any social media platform that violates a requirement of this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than ~~seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500)~~ seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) for each intentional violation, which shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General.

(2) In a successful action brought ~~by the Attorney General~~ to enforce this chapter, the court may order injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this chapter.

(b) For purposes of this section, each day a social media platform is in violation of a requirement of this chapter constitutes a separate violation.

~~(c)This section shall become operative September 1, 2023.~~