An act to amend Section 22589.3 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to social media.
Summary
SB 780 would amend California’s Cyberbullying Protection Act to increase the civil penalty for a social media platform that violates the chapter’s requirements from $10,000 to $50,000 per violation. The underlying law requires platforms to take specified steps to mitigate or prevent cyberbullying, including providing a prominent reporting mechanism that can be used by anyone, even if they do not have an account on the service. The bill does not change those reporting or compliance duties; it changes only the financial consequences for noncompliance.
The measure also preserves existing remedies already available under the statute, including compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees for prevailing plaintiffs. It states that each day a platform remains in violation counts as a separate violation, which can significantly increase exposure over time. The bill also keeps the existing limitation that liability cannot be imposed where barred by federal Section 230 law.
Impact
SB 780 would amend Section 22589.3 of the Business and Professions Code, increasing the statutory penalty for violations of California’s cyberbullying-related social media requirements from $10,000 to $50,000 per violation. This would raise the potential civil liability for covered social media platforms, while leaving intact the chapter’s reporting-mechanism mandate, enforcement options, cumulative-remedies language, and Section 230 savings clause. The bill would primarily affect social media companies and the plaintiffs authorized to enforce the law, including persons identified in Section 22589.2 and the Attorney General.
Sentiment
The available bill record shows little formal debate or recorded vote history, so the overall sentiment is best characterized from the bill’s structure and posture rather than from committee testimony. The measure appears to reflect a strong enforcement-oriented approach to cyberbullying compliance, signaling support for tougher penalties on platforms that fail to meet existing obligations. Its introduction and referral to the Senate Judiciary Committee suggest it was being advanced as a legal enforcement measure rather than a broad policy redesign.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the size of the penalty increase, since the bill multiplies the per-violation exposure fivefold from $10,000 to $50,000. Social media platforms and other regulated parties would likely view the higher penalty as potentially excessive, especially because each day of noncompliance counts as a separate violation and the statute already allows additional damages and injunctive relief. Supporters would likely argue that stronger penalties are needed to ensure meaningful compliance with cyberbullying protections and reporting requirements. Any legal concern would also center on the interaction with federal Section 230, which the bill expressly preserves as a limit on liability.