But some social media conservatives are against it, saying it is against free speech.
By Catholics for Catholics
A bill that would permit victims of online violent threats to sue social media companies as malicious conspirators is pending California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
The bill is aimed at large companies such as X, Meta and Google, that earn at least $100 million annually. It would let plaintiffs seek $500,000 for each less intentional “reckless violation” of state civil rights laws.
At issue is Senate Bill 771, which would amend state law to impose civil penalties of $1 million per threat for social media platforms that have shown “an intentional, knowing, or willful” track record of using algorithms that enable criminal language against protected groups of people.
The bill allegedly covers “credible threats of violence and harm” based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, immigration status and political affiliation, according to attorney Ed Howard, a senior policy advocate for the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law, which lobbied for the bill.
“This bill only applies to the biggest social media platforms, not users,” Howard, who helped draft the legislation, said Wednesday in an interview. “Gov. Newsom should sign it because it strengthens existing laws that protect Californians from being terrorized, intimidated or menaced out of exercising their constitutional rights online.”
California State Senator Henry Stern pushed in the cover of darkness. A bill. This bill will strip your first amendment rights. How? If you say something the state deems hateful or n Social media towards a “marginalized group” the can fine you anywhere between $500,000 to… pic.twitter.com/YDc5Jrdx3j
— Lori Mills (@LoriMills4CA42) September 21, 2025
Newsom, who is a Democrat, has until Oct. 12 to sign or veto the bill. “We don’t typically comment on pending legislation,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, the governor’s deputy communications director, said in an email. But social media companies and conservative influencers have called on Newsom to veto the legislation, which the Democrat-controlled Assembly and Senate passed by wide margins last month.
“Since you love talking about free speech so much, let’s not make laws that target free speech,” Spencer Pratt, a former MTV reality show star, told the governor in a Sept. 24 video posted on X.
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