Bill Text: CA SB388 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Platform companies: content management: negative externalities: report: acceptable use policy: illegal content.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB388 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SB388-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Senate
April 19, 2021 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
March 22, 2021 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 388
| Introduced by Senator Stern |
February 11, 2021 |
An act to add Section 1798.138 to the Civil Code, relating to platform companies.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 388, as amended, Stern.
Platform companies: content management: negative externalities: report: acceptable use policy: illegal content.
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 require a social media 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
externalities, as defined, associated with the platform company’s business activities. The bill would require the department to make the information reported to it available to consumers. The bill would require a platform company to also report that information to the Legislature and the agency. The bill would require a platform company to develop policies to assess and mitigate their negative externalities, to develop an “acceptable use” policy for users, and to remove illegal content from its platform within 24 hours of its posting. users.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
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(1) “Negative externalities” means the number of original posts and shared posts on the platform that are classified as obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not those posts are constitutionally protected.
(2) “Platform” means any social networking internet website or electronic or digital networking service or account that provides for the posting, display, or exchange of information through the building of virtual networks and communities, 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
social media 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) The Department of Justice shall make the information reported to it pursuant to subdivision (b) available to consumers.
(d) A platform company shall also report the information required by subdivision (b) to the Legislature and the California Privacy Protection Agency.
(e) A platform company shall develop policies to assess and mitigate the negative externalities reported pursuant to
subdivision (b).
(f) A platform company shall develop an “acceptable use” policy for users.
(g)A platform company shall remove illegal content from its platform within 24 hours of the posting of the illegal content.
