Calif. AG Vows to Defend AB-587 as ‘Commonsense' Social Media Law

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) looks forward to “fighting for this commonsense law in court,” emailed a spokesperson Monday of AB-587, the state’s social media law, after the X platform, formerly Twitter, sued Friday to block the state from enforcing it (see 2309110004). AB-587 requires social media companies with annual revenues exceeding $100 million to file “terms of service” reports with the California AG, specifying their content moderation policies and practices, with the first report due Jan. 1. AB-587's defenders call it “a pure transparency measure that simply requires companies to be upfront about if and how they are moderating content.” But X’s lawsuit said AB-587 violates the First Amendment and the California Constitution because it compels companies like X “to engage in speech against their will.”