{"id":2232480,"date":"2024-04-29T08:36:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T12:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-legislators-advance-limiting-influential-anonymous-online-speech\/"},"modified":"2024-04-29T08:41:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T12:41:39","slug":"california-legislators-advance-limiting-influential-anonymous-online-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-legislators-advance-limiting-influential-anonymous-online-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"California lawmakers push for restrictions on anonymous online speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-legislators-advance-limiting-influential-anonymous-online-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2232480&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>California lawmakers have passed a bill targeting &#8220;influential&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-proposes-restricting-influential-anonymous-online-speech\/\" title=\"California plans to limit anonymous online speech deemed influential\">anonymous online speech<\/a> by demanding social media giants to validate personal details, impacting significant global platforms. The proposed legislation, SB 1228 by State Sen. Steve Padilla, triggers debates over \u2063safeguarding credible information versus curtailing online anonymity. The bill&#8217;s reach \u2064extends to entities with over one million California users annually, aiming to enhance transparency and integrity on digital platforms.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 California legislators nearly unanimously voted to limit \u201cinfluential\u201d anonymous online free speech by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ron-desantis-signs-bill-cracking-down-on-big-tech-these-platforms-have-become-our-public-square\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Cracking Down On Big Tech: \u2018These Platforms Have Become Our Public Square\u2019\">requiring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a><\/a> to \u201cseek to verify\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-china-is-stealing-dna-of-u-s-citizens\/\" title=\"Report: China is Stealing DNA of U.S. Citizens\">personal information<\/a> \u2014 including government-issued identification \u2014 for \u201cinfluential\u201d accounts.<\/p>\n<p>While supporters say users need help distinguishing between good and bad information, opposition warned the bill, without defining \u201cseek to verify,\u201d threatens anonymous online speech.<\/p>\n<p>With the bill applying to companies with at least one million annual California users, it would affect major social media companies worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>Under SB 1228, by State Sen. Steve Padilla, D-Chula Vista, social media companies would be required to \u201cseek to verify\u201d the personal information of \u201cinfluential\u201d users, including seeking government-issued identification from \u201chighly influential users.\u201d Influential users who do not comply would have a \u201cnotation\u201d on their content for two seconds showing the user is unverified showing the rest of a post, after which the notation would still be visible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe average person does not have convenient tools at the moment to distinguish between content produced by a reputable news source or AI generated misinformation,\u201d said Padilla at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for the bill. \u201cNumerous studies have shown that online anonymity results in increased unconstrained postings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInfluential\u201d users would need to submit their name, telephone number, and email address if they have 15,000 or more followers, or more than 50,000 views within a week, or rank in the top 6% of platform views within a week. \u201cHighly influential\u201d users would need to submit government-issued identification if they have 30,000 or more followers, or more than 100,000 views within a week, or rank in the top 3% of views within a week.<\/p>\n<p>Bill supporters clarified the bill would not ban anonymous online speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt does not require platforms to force users to verify their identity, and it does not prevent users from using pseudonyms or no name at all when they are engaging in online speech,\u201d said Mariko Yoshihara of the California Initiative for Technology &#038; Democracy, to the committee. \u201cThis bill simply requires platforms to seek to verify the identity of users once they have reached a certain threshold that we have identified as influential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Opposition to the bill focused on the historical American importance of anonymous speech, and the danger a lack of clarity on \u201cseek to verify\u201d poses, as companies that fail to \u201cseek to verify\u201d influential users would face lawsuits from state or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-senate-committee-advances-lobbying-transparency-bill\/\" title=\"Florida Senate committee advances lobbying transparency bill\">local government attorneys<\/a> for \u201cinjunctive or other equitable relief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is unclear what constitutes satisfying the bill\u2019s requirement to seek to verify influential users,\u201d said Khara Boender of the Computer &#038; Communications Industry Association to the committee. \u201cThese users may be speaking about sensitive topics, represent dissident opinions under oppressive regimes, or be part of a marginalized community, among other reasons. Anonymous speech is a long held value and tradition in the United States dating back to the Federalist Papers. Protecting anonymity of online speech carries forward such traditions and protections to allow for open and free expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bill moved forward to the Senate Appropriations Committee nearly unanimously, save for a lone \u201cno\u201d from State Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill to regulate anonymous online speech. The legislation mandates social media platforms to verify personal information, including government-issued IDs, for &#8220;influential&#8221; accounts. Proponents argue it aids in discerning credible content, but detractors caution about the vague language in the bill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2232481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24005836447288-1024x1024.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2232480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24005836447288-1024x1024.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2232480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2232481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2232480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2232480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2232480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}