Bill Text: CA AB1282 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Mental health: impacts of social media.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 807, Statutes of 2024. [AB1282 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1282-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 20, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 06, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 09, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1282

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Introduced by Assembly Member Lowenthal

February 16, 2023

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An act to add and repeal Part 4.3 (commencing with Section 5887) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1282, as amended, Lowenthal. Mental health: impacts of social media.

Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, and authorizes the commission to take specified actions, including advising the Governor or the Legislature regarding actions the state may take to improve care and services for people with mental illness.

This bill would require the commission to report to the relevant specified policy committees of the Legislature, on or before July 1, 2026, a statewide strategy to understand, communicate, and mitigate mental health risks associated with the use of social media by children and youth. The bill would require the report to include, among other things, (1) the degree to which individuals negatively impacted by social media are accessing and receiving mental health services and (2) recommendations to strengthen children and youth resiliency strategies and California’s use of mental health services to reduce the negative outcomes that may result from untreated mental illness, as specified. The bill would require the commission to explore, among other things, the persons and populations that use social media and the negative mental health risks associated with social media, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Part 4.3 (commencing with Section 5887) is added to Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

PART 4.3. Impacts of Social Media on Mental Health

5887.

 As used in this part, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Children and youth” means individuals up to 26 years of age.

(a)

(b) “Commission” means the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission established pursuant to Section 5845.

(b)

(c) “Social media” means a public or semipublic internet-based service or application that has users in California and that meets both of the following criteria: social media platform, as defined in Section 22675 of the Business and Professions Code.

(1)A substantial function of the service or application is to connect users in order to allow users to interact socially with each other within the service or application. A service or application that provides email or direct messaging services shall not be considered to meet this criterion on the basis of that function alone.

(2)The service or application allows users to do all of the following:

(A)Construct a public or semipublic profile for purposes of signing into and using the service or application.

(B)Populate a list of other users with whom an individual shares a social connection within the system.

(C)Create or post content viewable by other users, including, but not limited to, on message boards, in chat rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that presents the user with content generated by other users.

5887.1.

 (a) The commission shall report to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Health, the Senate Committee on Judiciary, the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection, and other relevant policy committees of the Legislature a statewide strategy to understand, communicate, and mitigate mental health risks associated with the use of social media by children and youth. The report shall include all of the following:

(1) The degree to which individuals negatively impacted by social media are accessing and receiving mental health services.

(2) Recommendations to strengthen children and youth resiliency strategies and California’s use of mental health services to reduce the negative outcomes that may result from untreated mental illness enumerated in subdivision (d) of Section 5840.

(3) Any barriers to receiving the data relevant to completing this report.

(b) In preparing the report, the commission shall explore all of the following:

(1) The types of social media.

(2) The persons and populations that use social media.

(3) Opportunities to support resilience.

(4) Negative mental health risks associated with social media, including all of the following:

(A) Suicide.

(B) Eating disorders.

(C) Self-harm.

(D) Prolonged suffering.

(E) Depression.

(F) Anxiety.

(G) Bullying.

(H) Substance abuse.

(I) Other mental health risks as determined by the commission.

(c) In formulating this report, the commission shall prioritize the perspectives of children and youth through a robust engagement process with a focus on transition-aged transition-age youth, at-risk populations, in-need populations and underserved cultural and linguistic populations. The commission shall also consult with the California mental health community, including, but not limited to, consumers, family members, providers, and other subject matter experts.

(d) The report shall be submitted on or before July 1, 2026.

(e) A report to be submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

5887.2.

 This part shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.