This week, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) introduced AB 56, a bill that would enact legislation relating to mental health warning labels for social media platforms.
Not a lot of information was provided in the bill, however, it was introduced on December 2 and Bauer-Kahan has not released any formal statement on the bill or what it hoped to achieve.
According to the Bill:
AB 56, as introduced, Bauer-Kahan. Social media: warning labels.
Existing law regulates social media platforms through various acts, including the Cyberbullying Protection Act that 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 that 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 state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to mental health warning labels for social media platforms.
Editors Note:
In June, the Surgeon general called for warning labels on social media. A New York Times Opinion Essay by U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, on the impact of social media on youth mental health (the article is behind a paywall).
However, the US Department of Health and Human Services have a page dedicated to Social Media and Youth — click here
Meanwhile, last October, AG Rob Bonta Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over Harms to Youth Mental Health.
Other bills introduced by Bauer-Kahan in previous sessions include:
- AB 2877: This bill will prohibit businesses from using the personal data of children 16 and under to train artificial intelligence (AI) tools without a parent’s authorization.
- AB 2930: prohibits bias in Automated Decision Tools (ADTs).
- AB 988: implements federal legislation passed in 2020 establishing a new national phone line for suicide prevention and mental health and substance use disorder crises. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was launched nationwide in July, giving people in crisis an easy-to-remember number that connects them with counselors. Fully implemented, call centers can connect people calling dispatch mobile crisis support teams – staffed by mental health professionals and trained peers — to help a person in crisis. Critical to the transformation is reducing the role of law enforcement in crisis response (more info)
2 comments
It is foolish to attempt this at the state level. If “mental health warnings” are to be implemented (and the effectiveness is certainly open to debate), then it should be pursued at the national level.
I see she is using social media to get the word out😂
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