Senate BillVetoedCivil
SB 771: Personal rights: liability: social media platforms.
What SB 771 does, verified March 3, 2026
<p>This bill aims to regulate social media platforms by making them liable for civil penalties if they violate laws related to personal rights. The law requires social media companies to post terms of service in a manner that informs users of their contents. The bill also prohibits using violence or intimidation to interfere with a person's rights based on their political affiliation, race, or sexual orientation. If a social media platform violates these laws, it will be liable for specified civil penalties. The provisions of the bill are declared to be severable, meaning that if one part is deemed unconstitutional, the rest of the bill remains in effect.</p>
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
✓Second ChamberComplete
5GovernorCurrent
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Veto sustained. (2026-03-02)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions41 total · showing 5
| Mar. 02, 2026 | Veto sustained. |
| Mar. 02, 2026 | Stricken from file. |
| Oct. 13, 2025 | In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending. |
| Oct. 13, 2025 | Vetoed by the Governor. |
| Sep. 22, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11 a.m. |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, September 16, 2025 · 968 words
| Enrolled September 16, 2025 |
| Passed IN Senate September 11, 2025 |
| Passed IN Assembly September 10, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly September 02, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly July 10, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly June 19, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate May 23, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate March 24, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 771
| Introduced by Senator Stern (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bryan, Harabedian, Kalra, Lowenthal, Ortega, Pellerin, Stefani, and Zbur) |
February 21, 2025 |
An act to add Title 23 (commencing with Section 3273.72) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to social media platforms.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 771, Stern. Personal rights: liability: social media platforms.
Existing law generally regulates social media platforms, including by requiring a social media company to post terms of service for each social media platform owned or operated by the company in a manner reasonably designed to inform all users of the social media platform of the existence and contents of the terms of service, as prescribed.
Existing law generally prohibits a person from using violence or intimidation to interfere with another person’s enjoyment of certain rights or because of certain attributes of that person, including the person’s political affiliation, race, or sexual orientation, and punishes violations of that law with certain civil penalties or as misdemeanors, as prescribed.
This bill would make a social media platform, as defined, that violates the above-referenced provisions of law relating to personal rights through its algorithms that relay content to users or aids, abets, acts in concert, or conspires in violation of those laws, or is a joint tortfeasor in an action alleging a violation of those laws, liable for specified civil penalties. The bill would declare its provisions to be severable and would declare attempted waiver of its provisions to be void and unenforceable.
This bill would become operative on January 1, 2027.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a) California law prohibits all persons and entities, including corporations, from engaging in, aiding, abetting, or conspiring to commit acts of violence, intimidation, or coercion based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, or other protected characteristics. These protections are reflected in well-established civil rights statutes, including Sections 51.7, 51.9, and 52.1 of the Civil Code.(b) California has a compelling interest in protecting its residents from targeted threats, violence, and coercive harassment, particularly when directed at historically marginalized groups. That interest is especially acute in light of rising incidents of hate-motivated harm, as documented across the state, as follows:
(1) The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations reported in December 2024 that hate crimes involving anti-immigrant slurs increased by 31 percent, which marks the highest number since tracking began in 2007.
(2) The Human Rights Campaign and the Center for Countering Digital Hate have documented a 400-percent rise in anti-LGBTQ+ disinformation and harmful rhetoric on major social media platforms.
(3) According to Department of Justice data, anti-Jewish bias events rose by 52.9 percent and anti-Islamic bias events rose by 62 percent in 2023.
(4) A 2023 study by the nonprofit Global Witness demonstrated that paid advertisements promoting violence against women, including language calling for beatings and killings, were successfully placed and distributed on major social media platforms.
(c) In light of these trends, the Legislature affirms the urgent need to ensure that California’s civil rights protections apply with equal force in the digital sphere. The purpose of this act is not to regulate speech or viewpoint but to clarify that social media platforms, like all other businesses, may not knowingly use their systems to promote, facilitate, or contribute to conduct that violates state civil rights laws.
SEC. 2.
Title 23 (commencing with Section 3273.72) is added to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, to read:TITLE 23. Social Media Platforms Endangering Californians
3273.72.
As used in this title, “social media platform” means a social media 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.3273.73.
(a) A social media platform that violates Section 51.7, 51.9, 52, or 52.1 through its algorithms that relay content to users or aids, abets, acts in concert, or conspires in a violation of any of those sections, or is a joint tortfeasor in a violation of any of those sections, shall, in addition to any other remedy, be liable to a prevailing plaintiff for a civil penalty for each violation sufficient to deter future violations but not to exceed the following:(1) For an intentional, knowing, or willful violation, a civil penalty of up to one million dollars ($1,000,000).
(2) For a reckless violation, a civil penalty of up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).
(3) If the evidence demonstrates that the platform knew, or should have known, that the plaintiff was a minor, the court may award up to twice the penalties described in this subdivision.
(b) (1) For purposes of this section, deploying an algorithm that relays content to users may be considered to be an act of the platform independent from the message of the content relayed.
(2) A platform shall be deemed to have actual knowledge of the operations of its own algorithms, including how and under what circumstances its algorithms deliver content to some users but not to others.
3273.74.
This title shall become operative on January 1, 2027.SEC. 3.
(a) 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.(b) Any waiver of this act shall be void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy.
Text of SB 771 as enrolled, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions