A.B. 2390 - Social Media Harm Reduction Pilot Program - California

Assembly Bill  2390 

Social Media Harm Reduction Pilot Program
Summary
This bill establishes the Social Media Harm Reduction Pilot Program and would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to designate a nonprofit organization to undertake the responsibilities of the program. The responsibilities include recommending statewide standards for the use of online social networks by kindergarten and grades 1 to 12 pupils, inclusive, and would require the program to coordinate with existing laws regulating social media platforms to ensure consistency and avoid duplication of effort until December 31, 2029.

The Social Media Harm Reduction Pilot Program  enacts the following:

1) Establishes the Social Media Harm Reduction Pilot Program (program). Requires the California  Health and Human Services Agency to designate a nonprofit organization to undertake the responsibilities of the program.

2) Requires the program to:

a) Develop model educational materials and methods to leverage existing peer-to-peer support programs to inform pupils about the harms of social media, foster the development of healthy social media habits among pupils, and create a supportive environment in which they may do so;

b) Evaluate the impact of those educational materials and methods and the peer-to-peer support program through the establishment of statewide learning communities;

c) Recommend statewide standards for the use of online social networks by kindergarten and grades one to 12 pupils, inclusive; and,

d) Define best practices for expansion of the program.

3) Requires the program to coordinate with existing laws regulating social media platforms to ensure consistency and avoid duplication of effort.

4) Sunsets the program on December 31, 2029.

California Social Media Laws of Note

AB 1628 - Chapter 432 of 2022, the Drug Safety Policies on Social Media Platforms act requires until January 1, 2028, and subject to specified exceptions, a social media platform, as defined, that operates in the state to create and publicly post a policy statement that includes, among other things, the platform’s policy on the use of the platform to illegally distribute a controlled substance, as defined, and a link to the platform’s reporting mechanism for illegal or harmful content or behavior if one exists.

AB 2273 - Chapter 320 of 2022, establishes the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act which generally requires businesses that provide online services, products, or features likely to be accessed by children to comply with specified standards.

AB 2879 - Chapter 700 of 2022, the Cyberbullying Protection Act requires a social media platform to disclose all cyberbullying reporting procedures in the platform’s terms of service, and would require a platform to establish a mechanism within its internet-based service that allows an 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, as specified.

AB 1394 - Chapter 579 of 2023, requires social media platforms to provide a mechanism for users to report child sexual abuse material in which they are depicted; provides platforms 30 to 60 days after receiving a report to verify the content of the material and block it from reappearing. Also provides victims of commercial sexual exploitation the right to sue social media platforms for having deployed features that were a substantial factor in causing their exploitation.

Other  Bills that maybe Reintroduced

AB 2408 - 2022 would have created the Social Media Platform Duty to Children Act prohibiting a social media platform, as defined from using a design, feature, or affordance that the platform knew, or by the exercise of reasonable care should have known, causes a child user, as defined, to become addicted to the platform. AB 2408 was held on the Senate Appropriations suspense file.

SB 287 - 2023 would have subjected social media platforms to civil liability for damages caused by their designs, algorithms, or features, as provided. This bill would have provided a safe harbor where certain auditing practices are carried out. SB 287 was held on the Senate Floor.