Cal. BPC § 22588.2 — California Code / Code bpc / Division 8 / Chapter 22.2.8 / Section 22588.2
Section 22588.2
Status: in_force

For purposes of this chapter:

(a) (1) “Content” means statements or comments made by users and media, including audio, pictures, video, and text, that are created, posted, shared, or otherwise interacted with by users on an internet-based service or application.

(2) “Content” does not include media put on a service or application exclusively for the purpose of cloud storage, transmitting files, or file collaboration.

(b) “Cyberbullying” means any severe or pervasive conduct made by an electronic act or acts, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (r) of Section 48900 of the Education Code and Section 22589, committed by a person directed toward another person that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:

(1) Placing a reasonable person in fear of bodily harm or harm to that person’s property.

(2) Causing a reasonable person to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the person’s physical or mental health.

(3) Causing a reasonable person to experience substantial interference with the person’s academic performance.

(4) Causing a reasonable person to experience substantial interference with the person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

(c) (1) “Large social media platform” means a social media platform that meets all of the following criteria:

(A) The social media platform’s terms of service do not prohibit the use of the social media platform by a child.

(B) The social media platform includes features that enable a child to share images, text, or video through the internet with other users of the social media platform whom the child has met, identified, or become aware of solely through the use of the social media platform.

(C) The social media platform has more than 100,000,000 monthly global active users or generates more than one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in gross revenue per year, adjusted yearly for inflation.

(2) “Large social media platform” does not include any of the following:

(A) A service that primarily serves to facilitate the sale or provision of professional services or the sale of commercial products.

(B) A service that primarily provides news or information and does not offer the ability for content to be sent by a user directly to a child.

(C) A service that has features that enable a user who communicates directly with a child through a message, including a text, audio, or video message, not otherwise available to other users of the service, to add other users to that message that the child may not have otherwise met, identified, or become aware of solely through the use of the service and does not have any features described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1).

(d) “Public or semipublic internet-based service or application” does not include a service or application used to facilitate communication within a business or enterprise among employees or affiliates of the business or enterprise, if access to the service or application is restricted to employees or affiliates of the business or enterprise using the service or application.

(e) “Risk” means a social media-related threat that more likely than not will cause harm to a child.

(f) “Severe risk” means a social media-related threat that more likely than not will cause serious bodily or mental harm to a child.

(g) “Social media platform” has the same meaning as defined in Section 22675.

(h) “Social media-related threat” means content that promotes, incites, facilitates, or perpetrates any of the following:

(1) Suicide.

(2) Disordered eating.

(3) Drug trafficking.

(4) Substance abuse.

(5) Fraud.

(6) Human trafficking punishable pursuant to Section 236.1 of the Penal Code.

(7) Sexual abuse.

(8) Cyberbullying.

(9) Harassment.

(10) Distribution of harmful matter, as defined by Section 313 of the Penal Code.

(i) “Substantively respond” means to inform a person who makes a report pursuant to Section 22588.3 that the content being reported meets either of the following criteria:

(1) The content does not violate the terms of service of the large social media platform.

(2) The content violates the terms and conditions of the large social media platform.

(j) “Terms of service” means a public-facing policy or set of policies adopted by a social media platform that specifies, at least, the user behavior and activities that are permitted on the social media platform and the user behavior and activities that may result in the social media platform taking action against the user or content.

(k) “Verified reporter” means an individual described in, and verified by, the process required by subdivision (b) of Section 22588.3.