A controversial bill awaiting California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature would slap steep new penalties on social media platforms that fail to censor content deemed in violation of the state’s civil rights laws.
SB 771, which passed both chambers of the state legislature and was sent to Newsom’s desk on Monday, imposes fines of up to $1,000,000 on social media platforms that fail to remove content that violates the state’s civil rights laws.
Critics warn the measure will lead to sweeping censorship of lawful speech.
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“This violates the First Amendment rights of users and social media platforms,” they added.
Meanwhile, Google, YouTube’s parent company, admitted Tuesday that Biden administration officials repeatedly “pressed” it to remove video content that did not violate company policy, but was nonetheless deemed by the administration to be “misinformation.”