A California legislator has shelved a bill that would have levied fines on large social media companies that harm children, saying it had been watered down too much by industry-backed amendments in the Senate.
The dramatic move Friday by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D), on the eve of the legislature’s adjournment, represented the latest dust up in a high-stakes battle between social media companies and state lawmakers throughout the country over online child safety regulations.
“I can speak for many of my colleagues who were invested in this bill — Democrats and Republicans who overwhelmingly supported this bill throughout the legislative process — and feel raw and upset by a process serving the special interests, not the people. We as a legislature can and must do better,” Lowenthal said in a statement Friday afternoon.
Lowenthal, a tech entrepreneur, took issue with the Senate’s decision to reduce the proposed fines in his bill from a maximum of $1 million down to $250,000.
He also objected to the removal of a provision allowing youth or their parents to bring a lawsuit to enforce the law. Instead, the Senate restricted enforcement to the state attorney general or local prosecutors.
Finally, Lowenthal was troubled by language added to the bill that said companies could only be held liable if they “knowingly and willfully” breached their duty of care to a child.
Those changes, made as the bill moved through Senate committees, appear to have been recommended by Meta in June, according to an email chain and document shared with Pluribus News.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did Sen. Anna Caballero (D), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee where some of the amendments were made.
Senate Judiciary Chair Thomas Umberg (D), whose committee also made changes to the bill, said in a statement: “I look forward to working with Assemblymember Lowenthal next year on a similar bill to protect children. I applaud his efforts.”
Democrats control both the California Assembly and Senate.
Read more: Calif. bill would allow $1M in damages per child for social media harms
Lowenthal introduced the bill in February with sponsorship from Common Sense Media, a leading children’s media ratings nonprofit that first filed the legislation as a ballot measure.
The bill sought to update California’s duty of care law to explicitly call out social media companies’ responsibility to protect children from harm.
“We are disappointed that this bill is yet another casualty of spineless political chess, driven by Meta and its deep lobbying pockets,” James P. Steyer, Common Sense Media’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “The biggest losers of this unfortunate outcome are kids themselves, who are suffering the consequences of social media’s addictive design features and practices that continue to exacerbate America’s youth mental health crisis.”
Steyer said the bill intended to “hit [companies] where it hurts — their wallets” and vowed to bring the measure back next year.
The bill would have applied to social media companies that generate more than $100 million a year in gross revenues
Besides Common Sense Media, the measure had support from the California School Boards Association and the California Teachers Association among others.
Opponents included the California Chamber of Commerce and several tech industry trade groups who argued the measure was vague and warned that, “Reasonable people, even parents in the same household, might disagree about what is harmful to a particular teen,” according to a legislative analysis of the bill.
In recent years, lawmakers in both red and blue states have taken steps to regulate social media companies over concerns about youth mental health and well-being. The efforts have led to multiple laws across the country, including in New York and Florida this year. They have also triggered industry-led lawsuits that have successfully blocked many of the laws from taking effect.
Before adjourning Saturday, California lawmakers could still pass a separate bill, modeled on New York’s new law, that would bar addictive social media feeds for youth without a parent’s permission. That measure is awaiting a vote in the California Assembly.
Lowenthal, in his statement, said he intends to reintroduce his bill next year.
“While this is a setback, this effort is not going away,” Lowenthal said. “Instead of kowtowing to special interests, California’s legislature must work for kids and families – especially when the federal government remains unable to act.”
This story has been updated.