Bill Text: CA SB780 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Cyberbullying Protection Act: liability.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2026-02-02 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB780 Detail]

Download: California-2025-SB780-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 780

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Introduced by Senator Stern

February 21, 2025

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An act to amend Section 22589.3 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to social media.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 780, as introduced, Stern. Cyberbullying Protection Act: liability.

The Cyberbullying Protection Act requires a social media platform to take certain actions to mitigate or prevent bullying on the social media platform, including 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 related to cyberbullying, as prescribed. The act makes a violator liable to certain plaintiffs, including the Attorney General, for $10,000 for each violation, among other relief.

This bill would instead make a violator liable for $50,000 for each violation.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

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

22589.3.

 (a) (1) Any A social media platform that violates a requirement of this chapter shall be liable for ten fifty thousand dollars ($10,000) ($50,000) for each violation and for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and any civil remedies, penalties, or sanctions for harms caused by the social media platform’s failure to comply with this chapter, which damages shall be adjudicated and awarded apart from any harms attributable to the existence of the reported content alone and which shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by any person set forth in Section 22589.2.

(2) In a successful action brought to enforce this chapter, the court may order injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this chapter and may award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing plaintiff.

(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) (1) The remedies provided by this section are in addition to any other civil, criminal, and administrative remedies, penalties, or sanctions provided by law and do not supplant, but are cumulative to, other remedies, penalties, or sanctions.

(2) The duties and obligations imposed by this section are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve any party from any duties or obligations imposed under other law.

(3) This section does not impose liability on a social media platform if such liability is prohibited by Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code.