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California Social Media Company Penalties for Child Harm Initiative (2026)
From Ballotpedia
| California Social Media Company Penalties for Child Harm Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2026 | |
| Topic Business regulation | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The California Social Media Company Penalties for Child Harm Initiative (#23-0035) is not on the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2026.
The initiatives would have penalized social media companies that "knowingly violates its responsibility of ordinary care and skill to a child." The maximum penalty would have been $1 million per child.[1][2]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[3]
| “ | Creates new monetary penalties for injuries to minors caused by certain social media companies. Initiative statute.[4] | ” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[3]
| “ | Under current law, individuals may sue to recover their actual monetary damages for injuries caused by a company’s negligence (failure to act with ordinary care). This measure would make social media companies with annual revenues exceeding $100,000,000 liable for additional monetary penalties for injuries (such as addiction or self-harm) caused by the platform’s negligence to persons under 18 years old. Penalties would be either: (1) $5,000 per violation, up to $1,000,000 per minor, or (2) three times the minor’s actual damages.[4] | ” |
Fiscal impact
The fiscal impact statement was as follows:[3]
| “ | Increased state court costs likely in the millions of dollars depending on the type and volume of additional civil cases filed in state courts and how they are resolved. Uncertain impact on state and local tax revenue that would depend primarily on how social media platforms respond to the measure.[4] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the initiative can be read here.
Path to the ballot
Details about this initiative
- The initiative was filed on December 18, 2023, by James P. Steyer.[2]
- The initiative was cleared for signature gathering on February 22, 2024.[2]
- The campaign did not submit signatures by the circulation deadline of August 19, 2024.[2]
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Attorney General's Office, "Full text," accessed October 31, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 California Secretary of State's Office, "List of petitions," accessed May 12, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
