FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 15, 2025
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is leading a coalition of 55 advocacy, civil rights, community-based, and grassroots organizations in strong opposition to California Senate Bill 771 (Stern), warning that it threatens free expression online, undermines civil rights, and disproportionately harms marginalized communities.
While SB 771 is framed as a measure to hold platforms accountable for algorithmic harms, ADC and its coalition partners argue that it would encourage censorship of lawful speech, violate federal law, and create a chilling effect on political expression. Notably, the bill’s author has publicly denied that a genocide is occurring in Gaza immediately following an April 30 hearing on SB 472 (pupil instruction: Holocaust and genocide education). He also attacked Jewish voters as antisemitic for opposing his position. This is a deeply concerning position given the bill’s implications for speech about international human rights.
ADC is leading this coalition in response to SB 771’s direct threat to the ability of Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans — along with all marginalized communities — to speak and organize freely online.
The letter outlines key concerns:
- Disproportionate harm to marginalized communities: Political speech from Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans is often mischaracterized or silenced.
- Violation of federal law: SB 771 conflicts with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and undermines long-standing First Amendment protections.
- Over-censorship and bias: By encouraging strict enforcement of content moderation policies aligned with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, the bill would further suppress criticism of Israeli state violence.
- Unreliable data sources: The bill relies on Anti-Defamation League data, which the coalition argues is biased and unreliable.
The coalition also notes that Kenneth Stern, lead drafter of the IHRA definition and a self-identified Zionist, has warned against using IHRA to suppress political speech, yet SB 771 would do just that. A key concern with this bill is that it effectively enforces the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism without explicitly naming it. The IHRA conflates legitimate criticism of Israel and its policies with antisemitic hate speech. Kenneth Stern, the lead drafter of the IHRA definition and a self-identified Zionist, has publicly warned against using the definition to suppress political speech—yet this bill weaponizes it to do exactly that. Because major social media platforms like Meta have already adopted IHRA-aligned content policies, this bill would compel these companies to enforce such policies even more strictly to avoid costly fines. The result will be increased censorship, disproportionately targeting criticism of Israeli state violence under the guise of combating hate speech.
Opposition to SB 771 spans the political and economic spectrum, including major tech and business groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce, TechNet, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. In addition to these independent efforts, ADC has organized a coalition of 50 organizations — spanning labor, education, tech, civil rights, and beyond — united in opposing this bill.
ADC and its coalition partners urge California legislators to reject SB 771, calling it both a constitutional and moral imperative to uphold the right to dissent, organize, and speak freely online.
Read the coalition letter here: Coalition Letter Sb771