AB1946 - Reporting mechanism: child sexual abuse material.

Amended IN Senate August 21, 2026 Amended IN Senate July 02, 2026 Amended IN Assembly May 21, 2026 Amended IN Assembly May 18, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 27, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 06, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 19, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1946 Introduced by Assembly Members Wicks and Krell (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Kalra, Macedo, Petrie-Norris, and Stefani) February 13, 2026 An act to amend Sections 3273.65, 3273.66, 3273.67, and 3345.1 of the Civil Code, relating to social media platforms. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1946, as amended, Wicks. Reporting mechanism: child sexual abuse material. Existing law requires a social media platform to take certain actions with respect to child sexual abuse material on the social media platform, including requiring the platform to provide, in a mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users, a means for a user who is a California resident to report material to the platform that the user reasonably believes meets certain criteria, including that the reported material is child sexual abuse material and that the reporting user is depicted in the material. Existing law also requires the social media platform to collect information reasonably sufficient to enable the platform to contact, as specified, a reporting user. Existing law defines child sexual abuse material for these purposes to include obscene matter that depicts a minor personally engaging in, or personally simulating, sexual conduct. This bill would revise the definition of child sexual abuse material to instead include an intimate visual depiction, as defined, involving of an identifiable individual who is, or reasonably appears to be, is a minor. The bill would additionally require the above-described mechanism to be clear and conspicuous, as defined, and would delete the requirement that the reporting user be depicted in the material. The bill would require a social media platform to ensure that any report submitted using the reporting mechanism is reviewed through a hash-matching process and would require a social media company to platform to, among other things, ensure review by a natural person if there is not an established or known hash match to child sexual abuse material with respect to the reported material and the reported material is not otherwise blocked. The bill would require a social media platform to restore availability or functionality of the reporting mechanism if the reporting mechanism is unavailable or nonfunctional. Existing law makes a noncomplying social media company liable to a reporting user for actual damages and statutory damages, as specified. This bill would instead make a social media company liable to a depicted individual, as defined, for actual and statutory damages, as provided. The bill would also impose a civil penalty specified civil penalties on a noncomplying company to be collected in a civil action by certain public attorneys, including the Attorney General. Existing law establishes the Survivor Support Fund within the state treasury and makes moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for grants by the California Victim Compensation Board to community-based organizations that provide direct services to vulnerable individuals in areas with a high concentration of sex trafficking. This bill would require any penalty collected in a civil action by the Attorney General under these provisions to be deposited into the Survivor Support Fund. Existing law prohibits a social media platform from knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation, as defined. Existing law deems a social media platform to have knowledge for the purposes of this prohibition if material was reported to the social media platform using the reporting mechanism for 4 consecutive months, as provided. Existing law exempts a social media platform from being deemed in violation of this prohibition if it instituted a specified audit program and provided to each member of its board of directors a true and correct copy of each audit, as prescribed. This bill would remove the requirement that material was reported for 4 consecutive months to deem a social media platform to have knowledge for the purposes of the above-described prohibition. The bill would, in order to be exempt from that prohibition, require the social media platform to also submit the audit to the Attorney General, and if requested, to certain other public officials. The bill would provide that an audit submitted as described above is confidential and shall be exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. This bill would declare its provisions severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 3273.65 of the Civil Code is amended to read: 3273.65. As used in this title: (a) “Block” means to remove from being publicly viewable on the social media platform. (b) “Child pornography” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2256 of Title 18 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time. time, and includes obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children as provided in Section 1466A of Title 18 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time. (c) “Child sexual abuse material” means either of the following: (1) Child pornography. (2) An intimate visual depiction involving of an identifiable individual who is, or reasonably appears to be, a minor. individual, as defined in Section 6851 of Title 15 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time, who is a minor. (d) “Clear and conspicuous” has the same meaning as defined in Section 17601 of the Business and Professions Code. (e) “Dark pattern” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1798.140. (f) “Depicted individual” means a person who is depicted, including through the use of digitization or artificial intelligence, as a minor in child sexual abuse material on a social media platform. (g) “Digital forgery” means an intimate visual depiction of an identifiable individual created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means, including by adapting, modifying, manipulating, or altering an authentic visual depiction, that, when viewed as a whole by a reasonable person, is indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction of the individual. (h) “Hash” means a unique, fixed-length alphanumeric value generated from the contents of an image. (i) “Hash-matching process” means a process by which images and videos of child sexual abuse material can be converted into hashes and used to identify known child sexual abuse material. (j) “Identifiable individual” means an individual that meets both of the following criteria: (1) The individual appears in whole or in part in an intimate visual depiction. (2) The individual’s face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, including a unique birthmark or other recognizable feature, is displayed in connection with that intimate visual depiction. (j) “Identifiable individual” shall have the same meaning as is provided in Section 223(h)(1)(C) of Title 47 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time. (k) “Intimate visual depiction” means a visual depiction that depicts, whether through a digital forgery or otherwise, any of the following: (1) The uncovered genitals, pubic area, anus, or postpubescent female nipple of an identifiable individual. (2) The display or transfer of bodily sexual fluids onto any part of the body of an identifiable individual or from the body of an identifiable individual. (3) An identifiable individual engaging in sexually explicit conduct. (l) “Minor” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2256 of Title 18 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time. (m) “Obscene matter” has the same meaning as defined in Section 311 of the Penal Code. (n) “Reporting user” means a natural person who reports material to a social media platform using the means provided by the social media platform pursuant to Section 3273.66. (o) “Sexually explicit conduct” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2256 of Title 18 of the United States Code. Code, as amended from time to time. (p) (1) “Social media company” has, except as provided in paragraph (2), the same meaning as defined in Section 22675 of the Business and Professions Code. (2) “Social media company” does not include a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. (q) (1) “Social media platform” has, except as provided in paragraph (2), the same meaning as defined in Section 22675 of the Business and Professions Code. (2) “Social media platform” does not include either of the following: (A) A stand-alone direct messaging service that provides end-to-end encrypted communication or the portion of a multiservice platform that uses end-to-end encrypted communication. (B) An internet-based service or application owned or operated by a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. SEC. 2. Section 3273.66 of the Civil Code is amended to read: 3273.66. A social media platform shall do all of the following: (a) Provide, in a clear and conspicuous mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users and does not use dark patterns, a means for a user who is a California resident to report material, including, but not limited to, material sent or received through direct messaging systems, systems that do not use end-to-end encrypted communication, to the social media platform that the user reasonably believes meets both of the following criteria: (1) The reported material is child sexual abuse material. (2) The reported material is displayed, stored, or hosted on the social media platform. (b) (1) Collect information reasonably sufficient to enable the social media platform to contact, pursuant to subdivision (c), a reporting user. (2) (A) Ensure that any report submitted using the mechanism required by subdivision (a) is reviewed through a hash-matching process. (B) (2) A social media platform shall ensure a report submitted using the mechanism required by subdivision (a) is reviewed by a natural person if both of the following are true: (i) (A) There is not an established or known hash match to child sexual abuse material with respect to the reported material. (ii) (B) The reported material is not otherwise blocked. (c) Contact a reporting user in writing by a method chosen, not under the influence of dark patterns, by the reporting user, including, but not limited to, a telephone number for purposes of sending text messages or an email address. (d) (1) Permanently Within 48 hours of receiving a report from a reporting user using the mechanism described in subdivision (a), permanently block the instance of reported material from being viewable on the social media platform if the reported material meets all of the following criteria: (A) There is a reasonable basis to believe that the reported material is child sexual abuse material. (B) The reported material is displayed, stored, or hosted on the social media platform. (C) (i) The report contains basic identifying information, such as an account identifier, sufficient to permit the social media platform to locate the reported material. (ii) A social media platform shall not require a report to contain a specific piece of information for purposes of this subparagraph. (2) A social media platform shall make reasonable efforts to remove and block other instances of the same reported material blocked pursuant to this subdivision from being viewable on the social media platform. (e) Provide written confirmation to a reporting user that the social media platform received that person’s report that meets all of the following criteria: (1) The written confirmation is provided to the reporting user within 36 hours of when the material was first reported. (e) Within 72 hours of when the material was first reported, provide written confirmation to a reporting user of the actions taken by the social media platform with respect to the report received pursuant to subdivision (a). (2) (1) The written confirmation is shall be provided using the information collected from the reporting user under subdivision (b). (3) (2) The written confirmation informs shall inform the reporting user of the schedule of regular written updates that the social media platform is required to make under subdivision (f). (3) The written confirmation shall state whether or not the platform has, regarding the report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a), ensured the following as of the time of the confirmation: (A) The report has been reviewed through a hash matching process. (B) The report has been reviewed by a natural person pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) or not reviewed because the reported material has been blocked. (f) (1) Provide a written update Within seven days of when the material is first reported, provide a final written determination to the reporting user as to the status of the social media platform’s handling of the reported material using the information collected from the reporting user under subdivision (b). (2) The written update required by this subdivision shall be provided seven days after the date on which the written confirmation required under subdivision (e) was provided and every seven days thereafter until the final written determination required by subdivision (g) is provided. (g) Issue a The final written determination to the reporting user, using the information collected from the reporting user under subdivision (b), stating and through the contact method chosen by the reporting user pursuant to subdivision (c), shall state one of the following: (1) The reported material has been determined to be child sexual abuse material that was displayed, stored, or [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]