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AB-3172 Social media platforms: injuries to children: civil penalties.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 08/16/2024 06:11 PM
AB3172:v95#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  August 15, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  July 02, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3172

Introduced by Assembly Member Lowenthal

February 16, 2024

An act to add Section 1714.02 to the Civil Code, relating to obligations.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3172, as amended, Lowenthal. Social media platforms: injuries to children: civil penalties.
Existing law provides that everyone is responsible not only for the result of their willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person.
This bill would make a social media platform, as defined, liable for specified civil penalties in addition to any other remedy provided by law, if the platform knowingly and willfully fails to exercise ordinary care or skill toward a child. Under the bill, the civil penalties would only be available in an action brought by the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney. The bill would require no less than 51% of any civil penalties recovered pursuant to the bill to be distributed to the child to whom the duty of ordinary care and skill was owed. deposited into the Safe Social Media Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would allow money deposited into the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be used by the Office of the Surgeon General to raise awareness about safe social media use. The bill would apply to causes of action arising from conduct occurring on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would declare that its provisions are severable.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 The people of the State of California find as follows:
(a) Subdivision (a) of Section 1714 of the Civil Code already makes every person and corporation, including social media platforms, financially responsible for an injury occasioned to another by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person.
(b) Children are uniquely vulnerable on social media platforms.
(c) The biggest social media platforms invent and deploy features they know injure large numbers of children, including contributing to child deaths.
(d) The costs of these injuries are unfairly being paid by parents, schools, and taxpayers, not the platforms.
(e) This act is necessary to ensure that the social media platforms that are knowingly causing the most severe injuries to the largest number of children receive heightened damages to prevent injury from occurring to children in the first place.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1714.02 is added to the Civil Code, immediately following Section 1714.01, to read:

1714.02.
 (a) (1) A social media platform that knowingly and willfully breaches its responsibility of ordinary care and skill to a child shall, in addition to any other remedy, be liable for civil penalties for the larger of the following:
(A) Five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation up to a maximum, per child, maximum of one million dollars ($1,000,000). two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).
(B) Three times the amount of the child’s actual damages.
(2) The civil penalties provided for in paragraph (1) shall only be available in an action brought by the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney.
(3) (i) No less than 51 percent of any civil penalties recovered in an action brought pursuant to this subdivision shall be distributed to the child to whom the duty of ordinary care and skill was owed. deposited into the Safe Social Media Fund, which is hereby established in the State Treasury.
(ii) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the Safe Social Media Fund may be used by the Office of the Surgeon General within the California Health and Human Services Agency to raise awareness among adolescents on safe social media use, including avoiding any potential health and/or mental health risks associated with excessive use.
(b) Any waiver of this section shall be void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy.
(c) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Child” means a minor under 18 years of age.
(2) “Social media platform” means a platform, as defined in Section 22675 of the Business and Professions Code, that generates more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) per year in gross revenues.
(d) The duties, remedies, and obligations imposed by this section are cumulative to the duties, remedies, or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve a social media platform from any duties, remedies, or obligations imposed under any other law.
(e) This section applies to causes of action arising from conduct occurring on or after January 1, 2026.

SEC. 3.

 The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.