New California Law Requires Social Media Companies To Become More Transparent About Their Content Management Policies
On September 14, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed Assembly Bill 587, which imposes a set of new obligations on large social media companies. The new law is designed to encourage social media companies to take action to limit the spread of disinformation, misinformation, hate speech, racism, extremism, radicalization, harassment, and foreign political interference.
Under the new law, companies operating social media platforms that generate more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in gross revenue during the preceding calendar year must include a set of content policies in their terms of service (“TOS”). Such policies must specify what categories of user behavior or content are prohibited on the platform. The TOS also must specify what action the social media platform will take for a violation of these policies. The law will require companies to submit reports on the enforcement of the content policies to the Attorney General on an ongoing basis.