Social Media Commission.

Existing law regulates social media platforms, through various acts, including the Cyberbullying Protection Act, which requires a social media platform to, among other things and subject to specified exceptions, disclose all cyberbullying reporting procedures in the terms of service, and the Online Violence Prevention Act, which requires a social medial platform to, except as specified, clearly and conspicuously state whether it has a mechanism for reporting violent posts that is available to users and nonusers of the platform. This bill would establish the Social Media Commission for the purpose of bringing together a diverse group of experts and invested stakeholders to provide a comprehensive report with formal recommendations for regulation of social media as it relates to child and adolescent mental health and well-being. The bill would require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, or the secretary's designee, to chair the commission. The bill would require that the commission be composed of 7 subcommittees, including among others, a subcommittee of parents, a subcommittee of adolescents, a subcommittee of educators, and subcommittees of researchers and subject matter experts, as specified. This bill would request the University of California to send an informational briefing to committee members containing, among other things, a review of research on the outcomes of enacted legislation on adolescent social media use and mental health. The bill would require the commission to meet for the first time on or before March 30, 2025. The bill would require the commission to submit its report to the Legislature and the Governor on or before April 1, 2026.