Law / United States / 
California
AB 1946 (2026), social media platform reporting mechanism for child sexual abuse material
AB 1946 (Ch. 185, Stats. 2026), Cal. Civ. Code Sections 3273.65 to 3273.67 and 3345.1
A specific illegal content rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Governance, Reporting
As of .
What it requires
- If you operate a social media platform, provide a clear and conspicuous reporting mechanism, reasonably accessible to users and free of dark patterns, that lets a California resident report material they reasonably believe is child sexual abuse material displayed, stored or hosted on your platform, including material sent through direct messaging that is not end-to-end encrypted (Civil Code Section 3273.66(a)).
- Collect information sufficient to contact each reporting user, and contact them in writing by the method they choose (Section 3273.66(b)(1), (c)).
- Have a natural person review a report when there is no established or known hash match to child sexual abuse material and the reported material is not otherwise blocked (Section 3273.66(b)(2)).
- Within 48 hours of a report, permanently block the reported instance from view if there is a reasonable basis to believe it is child sexual abuse material hosted on your platform and the report has basic identifying information sufficient to locate it, and make reasonable efforts to remove and block other instances of the same material (Section 3273.66(d)).
- Within 72 hours of the first report, send the reporting user written confirmation of the actions taken, and within seven days send a final written determination that the material was blocked, was not child sexual abuse material, or was not hosted on your platform (Section 3273.66(e) to (g)).
- If circumstances beyond your reasonable control prevent compliance within 48 hours, give the reporting user written notice of the delay within 48 hours of knowing it was likely, and comply no later than 10 days after the first report (Section 3273.66(h)).
- Restore the reporting mechanism if it becomes unavailable or nonfunctional (Section 3273.66(i)).
- To keep the defense in Section 3345.1(g)(3) against a claim of knowingly facilitating commercial sexual exploitation, maintain a program of at least biannual audits of your designs, algorithms, practices, affordances and features, act on each audit within 30 days, give each audit to your board of directors within 90 days, and submit the audits to the Attorney General.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
A public attorney may recover a civil penalty of not more than $250,000 for each day a social media company is in violation of subdivisions (a) to (d) or (h) of Section 3273.66.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Day
- Per violation amount
- 250,000
Over one month of continuous breach, USD 7,610,000.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
California Attorney General, district attorneys, city attorneys and county counsels (civil penalties); a depicted individual (damages)
What this law does
AB 1946 was chaptered on as Chapter 185 of the Statutes of 2026. It amends Sections 3273.65, 3273.66, 3273.67 and 3345.1 of the Civil Code, relating to social media platforms. Existing law requires a social media platform to provide a means for a user who is a California resident to report child sexual abuse material to the platform.
A social media platform must provide the means in a clear and conspicuous mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users and does not use dark patterns, for material the user reasonably believes is child sexual abuse material displayed, stored, or hosted on the platform. Child sexual abuse material includes child pornography and an intimate visual depiction of an identifiable individual who is a minor.
The platform must ensure that a natural person reviews a report when there is not an established or known hash match to child sexual abuse material and the reported material is not otherwise blocked. Within 48 hours of receiving a report the platform must permanently block the reported material from being viewable if there is a reasonable basis to believe it is child sexual abuse material.
Within 72 hours of when the material was first reported the platform must give the reporting user written confirmation of the actions taken. Within seven days of the first report the platform must give the reporting user a final written determination of its handling of the reported material. If circumstances beyond its reasonable control prevent compliance within 48 hours, the platform must give written notice of the delay and comply no later than 10 days after the first report.
The platform must restore availability or functionality of the reporting mechanism if it is unavailable or nonfunctional. A social media platform is one defined in Section 22675 of the Business and Professions Code, other than a stand-alone direct messaging service with end-to-end encrypted communication or a service owned or operated by a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
The Attorney General, a district attorney, a city attorney or a county counsel may sue a social media company that fails to comply for a civil penalty of up to $250,000 for each day of violation of the reporting, review and 48-hour blocking duties.
A social media company that fails to comply with the title, other than the reporting mechanism in subdivision (a) of Section 3273.66, is liable to a reporting user who is the depicted individual for actual damages and statutory damages of no more than $250,000 per violation. A depicted individual who is not a reporting user may bring a civil action for the same relief, on their own behalf or through a parent, legal guardian or other authorized representative.
The maximum statutory damages fall to $125,000 per violation if the platform permanently blocked the reported material before a complaint was filed, and to $75,000 per violation for a violation of subdivisions (d) to (g) if it registers with and participates in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Take It Down service and meets the further conditions of the section.
A failure to comply with subdivisions (c) to (g) of Section 3273.66 within 60 days after the material was first reported establishes a rebuttable presumption that the company is liable for statutory damages.
Section 3345.1 deems a social media platform to have knowledge, for its prohibition on knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation, once material is reported through the mechanism, the report criteria are established, and the material was first displayed, stored, or hosted on the platform after .
A platform is not in violation of that prohibition if it shows that it kept a program of at least biannual audits of its designs, algorithms, practices, affordances, and features, acted within 30 days of each audit, gave each audit to its board of directors, and submitted the audits to the Attorney General. The act adds the requirement that the platform submit its biannual audits to the Attorney General and, if requested, to a district attorney, city attorney or county counsel.
The reporting title was added by AB 1394 and Section 3273.66 became operative on . Under Article IV, section 8(c)(1) of the California Constitution, a statute enacted at a regular session goes into effect on the January 1 next following a 90-day period from its enactment, which for this act is .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform or serves under-18s.