---
type: "Bill"
title: "Sexually explicit digital images."
description: "Existing law generally regulates social media platforms, including by requiring a social media platform to provide, in a mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users, a means for a user who is a California resident to report material to the social media platform that the user reasonably believes is, among other things, child sexual abuse material."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "SB 981"
citation: "California SB 981 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Sexually explicit digital images"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wahab"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 22
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-29"
last_action: "2024-09-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/83d41550-f253-44f2-aa33-257a06ede254"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981"
source_hash: "b78726b256605ea61e70bc6c8b15fb515cc08f27dce8ab958a4ae211488b6886"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 981 (20232024) — Sexually explicit digital images.

Existing law generally regulates social media platforms, including by requiring a social media platform to provide, in a mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users, a means for a user who is a California resident to report material to the social media platform that the user reasonably believes is, among other things, child sexual abuse material.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **01/29/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98199INT)
2. **03/20/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98198AMD)
3. **04/22/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98197AMD)
4. **05/02/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98196AMD)
5. **06/21/24 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98195AMD)
6. **08/05/24 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98194AMD)
7. **09/19/24 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98192CHP)
8. **SB981** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981)
9. **08/21/24 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB981&version=20230SB98193ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended. — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB981 Wahab et al. Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 981 Wahab Senate Third Reading By Bauer-Kahan — **73–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **11–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Wahab — primary (person)
- Ochoa Bogh — coauthor (person)
- Weber — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-29** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2024-01-30** From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 29.
- **2024-02-14** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-20** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-04-03** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-05** Set for hearing April 30.
- **2024-04-22** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-05-01** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 3819.) (April 30). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-02** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-05-13** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 3895.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-05-13** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2024-06-03** Referred to Com. on P. & C.P. `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-21** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-07-03** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (July 2). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-08-05** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-06** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-12** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 6278.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-08-12** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2024-08-19** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 5198.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-08-23** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2024-09-19** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-09-19** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 292, Statutes of 2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/83d41550-f253-44f2-aa33-257a06ede254`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).