Governor Gavin Newsom has blocked legislation that could have cost social media companies up to $1 million for promoting discriminatory content through their algorithms.
The governor vetoed Senate Bill 771 on October 13, saying California should first figure out whether current laws can handle the problem before creating new ones.
The bill would have held platforms responsible when their algorithms pushed content that violated state civil rights protections—posts targeting people based on race, religion, or other protected traits.
“Our first step should be to determine if, and to what extent, existing civil rights laws are sufficient to address violations perpetrated through algorithms,” Newsom wrote to state senators. “To the extent our laws prove inadequate, they should be bolstered at that time.”
Newsom said he shares worries about rising threats, violence, and harassment online. He wants California’s civil rights laws to work the same way on the internet as they do everywhere else. But he thinks lawmakers are getting ahead of themselves.
“I support the author’s goal of ensuring that our nation-leading civil rights laws apply equally both online and offline,” he wrote.
Free speech advocates cheered the veto. Groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and X’s government affairs team had warned the bill would open the door to government censorship.
Civil rights organizations saw it differently. They backed the bill as a way to crack down on hate speech that gets amplified by platform algorithms.
The veto deals a blow to efforts aimed at reining in how social media companies use algorithms to recommend content. The issue has drawn more attention as platforms face questions about spreading harmful material.
For now, Newsom wants the state to take stock of what’s already on the books before writing new rules.
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