The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About8-23-2022 AB 587 - Support August 23, 2022 The Honorable Jesse Gabriel 1021 O Street, Room 5220 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: AB 587 (Gabriel) Social media companies: terms of service Notice of Support (As Amended on August 11, 2022) Dear Assemblymember Gabriel, The City of San Luis Obispo supports AB 587 (Gabriel), which would create a new requirement that social media companies post their terms of service with clear details how users can point out offensive content that violates the terms of service. The City of San Luis Obispo has established Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a major city goal. As part of that goal the City intends to build a community of inclusion, fairness, and belonging for all. Over the last few years social media sites have become a place where individuals feel that they can share hate speech. This directly conflicts with our City goal of creating an inclusive community. Social media companies’ content moderation programs and policies have dramatically evolved over the years, but the proliferation of hate speech, objectionable content, and “fake news” has led to calls for swifter and more aggressive action in response. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s 2021 Online Hate and Harassment Survey1, 41% of individuals experience online harassment and one in three of those individuals attribute at least some harassment to their identity. Identity based harassment remains an urgent concern, affecting the ability of already marginalized communities to be safe in digital spaces. Making it easier for users to report objectionable content and for that content to be removed is one small step that can be taken to improve the online experience for everyone. 1 https://www.adl.org/resources/report/online-hate-and-harassment-american-experience-2021 Letter – Supporting AB 587 August 23, 2022 Page 2 For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo supports AB 587 (Gabriel). Sincerely, Erica A. Stewart Mayor City of San Luis Obispo C: Senator John Laird, Fax: (916) 651-4017 Assembly Member Jordan Cunningham, Fax (916) 319 -2135 Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org League of California Cities (via email: cityletters@calcities.org)