Big Tech is back on the menu

Presented by Phenomena Global: Inside the Golden State political arena

Dec 04, 2024 View in browser   By Tyler Katzenberger and Dustin Gardiner Presented by Phenomena Global California lawmakers are once again pursuing legislation to regulate Big Tech, including a proposal that would require social-media companies to warn users about the risks posed to children. | Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images THE BUZZ: BOOT UP — The new legislative session started just two days ago, but California Democrats are already brimming with new ways to push Big Tech’s buttons. Lawmakers have introduced at least a half-dozen bills this week ranging from social media warning labels to new protections against deepfakes. Most are placeholder measures with scant details, but the message they’re sending is clear: Sacramento is prepping for another whirlwind year at the forefront of national fights over digital safety and privacy. Here’s a snapshot of what lawmakers have proposed so far: Online safety protections: The headliner here is a bill from Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan that would require social media platforms to display labels warning users of the technology’s mental health risks. "The mental health impacts of social media — particularly for children — have reached alarming rates that we can not afford to ignore,” Bauer-Kahan told Playbook. The Bay Area Democrat’s proposal appears similar to legislation Attorney General Rob Bonta teased in September. Bonta told the San Francisco Chronicle that he envisioned warning labels taking the form of a pop-up window that would appear whenever someone in California opens a social media platform. The idea picked up wide bipartisan support after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy first endorsed health warning labels for social platforms in June. But don’t expect the bill to sail through: Tech companies have fiercely opposed past efforts to regulate their platforms. You don’t need to explain that to Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, who’s back for another go at legislation that would fine social media companies found to have negligently harmed kids. Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat, pulled the plug on his effort last session after it was watered down in Senate Appropriations Committee amid pushback from Big Tech. He’s still fleshing out the details, but told Playbook “the meat of the bill remains the same.” “I’m convinced it’s a better outcome for big tech than other draconian measures being implemented,” Lowenthal said in a text message, referencing a recently passed Australian law that bans kids under 16 from accessing social media. Regulations for AI and deepfakes: Two state senators have put forward legislation aimed at taking action on AI. The first, from state Sen. Jerry McNerney, is a placeholder bill that’s still light on details. The Stockton Democrat and former congressmember was at the forefront of AI regulations during his time in Washington, and he previously told Playbook that AI was his top legislative priority heading into 2025. Another bill from state Sen. Angelique Ashby would clarify legal protections for people whose likeness is digitally replicated using AI and shared without their consent. Ashby told Playbook her legislation is inspired by high-profile incidents like explicit, deepfaked photos of Taylor Swift that circulated online earlier this year, but her intent is to ensure “everyday people” can seek recourse when someone uses AI to falsify their image or voice. “This sort of vagueness in the law really has created an ability for people to create sex-related content harmful to women,” Ashby said. “I don’t think that’s right, and I want to make sure it’s clear California law allows them to protect themselves.” Abortion rights: Bauer-Kahan is once again out to protect health care data with a new bill that would prevent data brokers and out-of-state law enforcement from accessing information about patients seeking an abortion. Her legislation is still under construction, but the first draft indicates she plans to crack down on medical research requested by states with stringent anti-abortion laws and groups that collect location data from people who visit abortion clinics. She called the bill a “proactive step” to ensure “private, personal health decisions are not prosecuted or subjected to harm” in a statement. GOOD MORNING. Happy Wednesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and tkatzenberger@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @TylerKatzen. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. A message from Phenomena Global: Fear not—the Cavalry is here, and it’s led by Artists. At Phenomena Global, we ignite movement-making culture by channeling capital into creativity, harnessing the power of entertainment to shape hearts and minds. We bring together cultural icons, media powerhouses and top financiers to design strategies that break norms—delivering not just positive returns, but inspiring purpose-driven impact. This is the rise of Cultural Capitalism for Good. Join the movement.   THE SCOOP LGBTQ+ advocacy groups want California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to move quickly to enact additional protections for the community. | Getty Images FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: FIREWALLS WANTED — The state’s largest LGBTQ+ rights groups are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders to shield the community from threats posed by a second Trump presidency. In a letter today, the groups are set to request a host of legal remedies, along with more funding to investigate discrimination in the public-school system and create a fund to help people living in hostile states relocate to California. “We have heard from countless members of our community who are terrified about what a second Trump presidency will mean for themselves and their families,” states the letter, which was exclusively shared with Playbook. The effort was spearheaded by Equality California and signed by 16 other groups, including the TransLatina Coalition, Los Angeles LGBT Center, San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Planned Parenthood of California. Among the additional requests outlined in their letter to the governor and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire: Eliminate delays that make it difficult for transgender people to update their driver’s licenses and other forms of government ID; and prohibit police from cooperating with the federal government to bar transgender people from accessing care.   REGISTER NOW: As the 118th Congress ends, major decisions loom, including healthcare appropriations. Key focus: site neutrality. Can aligning hospital and clinic costs cut federal spending, reflect physician costs, and lower patient expenses? Join policymakers and providers to discuss.     ELECTION RESULTS Rep.-elect Adam Gray, a Democrat from the Central Valley. | Adam Gray for Congress LAST CALL — Democrat Adam Gray has narrowly defeated Republican incumbent John Duarte in the race for a swing House seat in the Central Valley. Gray led by a razor-thin margin of 187 votes as of Tuesday night. It’s a significant boost for Democrats in the Golden State, who managed to flip three battleground seats and hold onto a fourth despite Republicans’ national momentum. Altogether, Democrats won four of the six most competitive House races in California. Duarte told POLITICO on Tuesday that he had conceded to Gray. It was the last House race to be called in the country. House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar celebrated the party’s silver lining in a statement Tuesday night: “California Democrats faced the same headwinds that our party endured across the country and we were still able to flip three Republican-held seats that had been out of reach in previous, more favorable cycles.” MR. MAYOR — Former Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, a Democrat, will be the next mayor of Sacramento. He narrowly defeated ultra-progressive challenger Flojaune “Flo” Cofer in a race defined by concerns about homelessness and crime in the capital city. As our colleague Lindsey Holden reports, McCarty declared victory last week, but Cofer waited to comment on the results until the vote-counting concluded on Tuesday night. McCarty won by just 1,938 votes, 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent, according to the final tally posted by the county. ON THE HILL Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., arrives at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday to meet with fellow Democrats for caucus leadership elections. | AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite I SWEAR — Mark your calendar: Adam Schiff will officially become California’s newest U.S. senator on Monday, when he and Andy Kim, the incoming senator from New Jersey, will be sworn in, reports the Los Angeles Times. A Schiff spokesperson confirmed the plans to Playbook. His House seat will remain vacant until his successor, Democratic ex-Assemblymember Laura Friedman, gets sworn in with the rest of the new Congress on Jan. 3.   A message from Phenomena Global:   CLIMATE AND ENERGY California just kicked the can down the road on a difficult task: defining the trending concept of "regenerative agriculture." | John Moore/Getty Images WHAT'S IN A NAME — “Regenerative agriculture” promises to do so many things, from storing carbon to improving biodiversity, that California regulators are struggling to define it. Read more about the farming practice that’s got everyone from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to Katie Porter excited in last night's California Climate. TOP TALKERS Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County’s new district attorney. | AP CHANGE OF GUARD — Los Angeles County’s new district attorney, Nathan Hochman, was sworn in Tuesday by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Los Angeles Times reports. The “Terminator” star played right into his action hero fame, declaring “the city of Los Angeles is now going to be back” under Hochman’s watch. SO OVER HIM — Schiff, who built his national profile by resisting Donald Trump, doesn’t want to talk about the president-elect anymore. He’d rather talk economics. “We can’t wait for four years to deal with housing. We can’t wait four years to deal with challenges to child care, or the fact that the economy is not working for lots of people,” Schiff told the LAT. “We need to solve these problems.” SIKE! TRUMP TALK — The senator-elect wasn’t a fan of President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, he told KQED yesterday, and he invoked Trump in his response. “I think it sets a bad precedent that will undoubtedly be abused and probably will be abused in the very near future by the incoming president, who was already citing it in connection with his desire to pardon the January 6th attackers,” Schiff said. GOOD LUCK, BABE — Outgoing San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s office released a report projecting the city’s two-year budget deficit at $876 million. It’s a rough welcome note for Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie, who will inherit the deficit when he takes office in January. As the San Francisco Chronicle’s J.D. Morris writes, Lurie will have to figure out how to deliver on his ambitious campaign promises, including to reduce homelessness and hire hundreds more police officers, while staring down red ink. A message from Phenomena Global: Not Resistance, Renaissance. Phenomena Global unites Hollywood storytelling and Washington strategy to drive bold change through purpose-driven capitalism. Led by Hollywood entertainment leaders and founder Adrian Eng-Gastelum—a fixer for media moguls, artists, philanthropists, and ethical crypto and AI firms—our advisors include global studio executives, top journalists, bipartisan political leaders, a founding Latino Film Institute leader, and Oscar-winning directors. We’re raising capital for 22 projects that include Michelle Rodriguez, Alec Baldwin, Jane Fonda, Ryan Seacrest, and Eva Longoria.    AROUND THE STATE — Clients and staff at San Francisco’s largest publicly funded addiction treatment center say the program is a deadly revolving door. (San Francisco Chronicle) — Federal prosecutors allege a Chinese national living in the U.S. attempted to ship weapons from California to North Korea by concealing them inside shipping containers. (ABC 7) — A former Apple employee is suing the tech company, accusing it of spying on its workers. (Semafor) — How effective are California power companies’ expensive wildfire prevention efforts? (CalMatters) — Sacramento-area residents are barred from using fireplaces, wood stoves and pellet stoves through today because of high air pollution levels. (Sacramento Bee)   Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today.     PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Former Assembly Floor Director and legislative expert Brian Ebbert is emerging from retirement to serve as Speaker’s parlimentarian. — Coinbase’s Kate Rouch is joining OpenAI as the company’s first chief marketing officer. BIRTHDAYS — Retiring Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) … Amazon’s Rachael Lighty … Jennie Westbrook Courts of the Information Technology Industry Council … Yana Mayayeva … Sarah Schanz … Janet Fernandez of Elevate Public Affairs BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Tuesday): U.S. Rep.-elect Laura Friedman (D-Calif.) WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Dustin Gardiner @dustingardiner Tyler Katzenberger @TylerKatzen   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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