(a) A social media company that fails to comply with the requirements of this title shall be liable to a reporting user for all of the following:

(1) Any actual damages sustained by the reporting user as a result of the violation.

(2) (A) (i) Subject to clauses (ii) and (iii), statutory damages of no more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) per violation.

(ii) If a social media platform has permanently blocked the instance of the reported material pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 3273.66 before a complaint is filed for a violation of this title, the maximum statutory damages awarded pursuant to clause (i) shall be one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000) per violation.

(iii) If a social media platform meets all of the following requirements, the maximum statutory damages awarded pursuant to clause (i) for a violation of subdivisions (d) to (g), inclusive, of Section 3273.66 shall be seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) per violation:

(I) The social media platform registers with, and participates in, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Take It Down service or its successor.

(II) The social media platform receives updated hash values for identified child sexual abuse material from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Take It Down service, or its successor, at least once every 36 hours.

(III) Within 36 hours of receiving updated hash values for identified child sexual abuse material from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Take it Down service, or its successor, pursuant to subclause (II), the social media platform removes child sexual abuse material identified by hash values from the social media platform.

(IV) The social media platform reports identified child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, as required by Section 2258A of Title 18 of the United States Code.

(V) The social media platform provides to a reporting user both of the following when a user reports child sexual abuse material to the platform directly:

(ia) Written confirmation to the reporting user that the social media platform received that person’s report within 36 hours after the child sexual abuse material was reported.

(ib) A final written determination to the reporting user within 30 days after the date on which the material was first reported.

(B) In determining the amount of statutory damages pursuant to this paragraph, a court shall consider the willfulness and severity of the violation and whether the social media platform has previously violated this title.

(3) Costs of the action, together with reasonable attorney’s fees, as determined by the court.

(4) Any other relief that the court deems proper.

(b) The failure of a social media platform to comply with subdivisions (c) to (g), inclusive, of Section 3273.66 within 60 days after the date on which material was first reported pursuant to Section 3273.66 shall establish a rebuttable presumption that the reporting user is entitled to statutory damages under this section.

(c) This title shall not be construed to limit or impair in any way a cause of action under paragraph (1) of Section 1710.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 579, Sec. 2. (AB 1394) Effective January 1, 2024. Operative January 1, 2025, as prescribed by Stats. 2023, Ch. 579, Sec. 5.)