Political Reform Act of 1974: business entities: online advocacy and advertisements.

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including by prohibiting, limiting, or requiring disclosure of certain political activities and by regulating certain political advertisements. This bill, beginning on January 1, 2024, would require a business entity to submit a report to the Secretary of State following any calendar year in which the business entity used its products or services to alter its online search results to emphasize or deemphasize materials containing express advocacy, or to target online advertisements to individuals or groups, or generally to users or members of the public, for political purposes and without full and adequate consideration. The bill would require the report to contain certain information relating to the search results and advertisements, as specified. The bill would require reports to be filed on paper or by email with the Secretary of State, and to be made publicly available in a conspicuous location on the Secretary of State's website. These provisions would not apply to a business entity's use of its products or services exclusively to carry out its commercial activities, including delivering user-generated content or a paid advertisement on behalf of another person, or to communications that are internal to a business entity or entities. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.