Amended  IN  Senate  March 10, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 480


Introduced by Senator Stern

February 17, 2021


An act to add Section 1798.138 to the Civil Code, relating to social media platforms. platform companies.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 480, as amended, Stern. Social media platforms: internalizing costs. Platform companies: content management: negative externalities: report.
Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected or sold by a business, as defined, and also establishes, as approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, the California Privacy Protection Agency and vests it with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to implement and enforce the CCPA.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require social media platforms to internalize the negative externalities that threaten democratic processes in California and the United States, and not continue to shift these costs to the platform users, government, and society at large.

This bill would require a platform company, as described, to report annually to the Department of Justice by April 1 of each year prescribed information relating to content management and the negative externalities associated with the platform company’s business activities. The bill would require the platform company to also report that information to the Legislature and the agency.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature for major social media platforms to account for, and mitigate, negative externalities from their business activities on the public health, democratic security, mental health, violence, extremism, and other impacts on the people of California.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1798.138 is added to the Civil Code, to read:

1798.138.
 (a) As used in this section, “platform” means any internet website or electronic or digital networking service or account that provides for the posting, display, or exchange of information, including, but not limited to, social media internet websites or other internet websites featuring videos or still photographs, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, instant and text messages, email, online services or accounts, or internet website profiles or locations.
(b) A platform company that, in combination with each subsidiary and affiliate of the service, has 25,000,000 or more unique monthly visitors or users for a majority of the preceding 12 months, shall report to the Department of Justice by April 1, 2022, and by that date each year thereafter, the following information:
(1) The amount of money, labor hours, and other efforts expended to prevent, mitigate the effects of, and remove potentially harmful content.
(2) Any internal accounting of the negative externalities associated with the platform company’s business activities.
(3) Quantified statistics on how much content is being reviewed, how much content is targeted for removal, and how much content is actually removed due to breach of terms-of-service agreement issues or other issues.
(4) The categories the platform places content into that the platform targets for removal and the corresponding number of postings that fall into each category.
(c) A platform company shall also report the information required by subdivision (b) to the Legislature and the California Privacy Protection Agency.

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require social media platforms to internalize the negative externalities that threaten democratic processes in California and the United States, and not continue to shift these costs to the platform users, government, and society at large.