July 8, 2024
The Honorable Henry Stern
California State Senate
1021 O Street, Suite 7710
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Support SB 1504 (Stern)
Dear Senator Stern,
The California Youth Empowerment Network (CAYEN) is pleased to support SB 1504 (Stern). This legislation expands the Cyberbullying Protection Act to safeguard all minors, increases penalties for social media companies that fail to comply with the bill’s mandate, and establishes a more robust reporting mechanism.
CAYEN is a youth-led statewide network comprised of TAY Action Teams and CAYEN Board members which engages, empowers and represents Transitional Age Youth (TAY), ages 15-26, in mental health advocacy on issues that directly affect TAY. Since CAYEN’s inception in 2006, CAYEN has taken many forms of action to empower TAY in their personal lives and spark progressive change in public policy.
We are fortunate to work with our TAY Action Team at the Koreatown Youth+ Community Center in Los Angeles, a non-profit organization located in Koreatown within Los Angeles County whose mission is to serve both the Korean American population in the greater LA area and the multiethnic Koreatown community. Our TAY Action Team was established after a group of TAY came together and shared similar mental health issues stemming from experiencing or witnessing bullying throughout their middle and high school experiences. This led to the team yearning to meet the mental health needs of TAY across the Los Angeles Unified School District and the state by being the forefront of their communities with their bullying prevention efforts through a restorative justice lens. Below, we have gathered testimony from our TAY to talk about the harm of cyberbullying and the role of social media companies. We have removed their name to protect their identity.
“Cyberbullying is a huge problem because it could have serious consequences to a person’s mental health and mindset such as decreased self-esteem, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, increased anxiety, and many more. I never had a problem with cyberbullying, but I see many people who experienced that caused themselves to isolate from everyone. I did have a similar problem with bullying that made me have less confidence.” Youth, 15 Years Old
“I’ve had personal experience with cyber bullying such as having things exposed that I didn’t want to be exposed and it did impact me mentally it made me anxious around certain people so I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone else. Social media companies have the power to prevent things like cyber bullying from happening in the first place so if it’s going on within their platform and they’re not doing anything about it, they are responsible.” – Youth, 16 Years Old
“From what I’ve seen in social media companies, they usually would put minimal effort in preventing cyber bullying such as an age limit to access the app and a report button to where you can report a comment made towards you. What social media companies should do is make it easier to report people and take it seriously when reviewed. I feel as if social media companies don’t talk about cyberbullying to where everyone has an understanding in what happens during cyberbullying and how to get out or resolve the situation.” – Youth, 15 Years Old
“I have witnessed the grotesque behavior of some users on apps like TikTok. I can only imagine the mental detriment it could have on the user receiving such messages. Social media companies should instill stricter measures to ensure that accounts who are active, solely to spread hateful comments, do not have access to platforms.” Youth, 23 Years old
Current California law is simply inadequate to the task of requiring platforms to operate with a minimum of responsiveness and respect to those who are cyberbullied. Please prioritize the needs of young people by voting for SB 1504 (Stern). If you have any questions, or if CAYEN can provide assistance on this bill or any other behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at dthirakul@mhac.org.
Sincerely,
Danny Thirakul
Public Policy Coordinator
California Youth Empowerment Network