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California · 2025–26 Regular Session · Senate Bill

SB 771: Personal rights: liability: social media platforms.

Vetoed Official data

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Enacted
  6. Vetoed

Last official action: ·Record last updated:

Plain-language summary

SB 771 is a senate bill introduced in the California Senate on February 21, 2025. According to its official title, it concerns: Personal rights: liability: social media platforms. Primary sponsor: Henry Stern (D). It lists 8 additional sponsors. Most recent recorded action (March 2, 2026): Veto sustained.

Generated automatically from the official title, sponsor list, and status record only. It does not characterize the bill’s purpose or effects. How summaries are written

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

Existing law generally regulates social media platforms, including by requiring a social media company to post terms of service for each social media platform owned or operated by the company in a manner reasonably designed to inform all users of the social media platform of the existence and contents of the terms of service, as prescribed.

Existing law generally prohibits a person from using violence or intimidation to interfere with another person’s enjoyment of certain rights or because of certain attributes of that person, including the person’s political affiliation, race, or sexual orientation, and punishes violations of that law with certain civil penalties or as misdemeanors, as prescribed.

This bill would make a social media platform, as defined, that violates the above-referenced provisions of law relating to personal rights through its algorithms that relay content to users or aids, abets, acts in concert, or conspires in violation of those laws, or is a joint tortfeasor in an action alleging a violation of those laws, liable for specified civil penalties. The bill would declare its provisions to be severable and would declare attempted waiver of its provisions to be void and unenforceable.

This bill would become operative on January 1, 2027.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 9

NameRolePartyChamberDistrict
Henry SternPrimary sponsorDemocraticSenate27
Isaac BryanCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly55
John HarabedianCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly41
Ash KalraCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly25
Josh LowenthalCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly69
Liz OrtegaCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly20
Gail PellerinCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly28
Catherine StefaniCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly19
Rick Chavez ZburCo-sponsorDemocraticAssembly51

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

  1. Veto sustained.
  2. Stricken from file.
  3. In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending.
  4. Vetoed by the Governor.
  5. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11 a.m.
  6. Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 8. Page 2919.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
  7. In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
  8. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 51. Noes 2. Page 3238.) Ordered to the Senate.
  9. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
  10. Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
  11. From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 1.) (August 29).
  12. August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.

Sources

  1. California Legislative Information — pubinfo database export
  2. Official bill page