May 18, 2011 - The California Senate Committee on Judiciary voted on May 10 to adopt SB 242, a bill that would prohibit social networking sites from displaying certain information without the express agreement of the user. The bill was ordered to a third reading on May 17, the last step before a measure is considered on the floor.
Looking at contributions across the entire Senate, interest groups that opposed the bill have given more in campaign contributions than interest groups that supported the bill. The opposite was true for the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who recently voted on the bill.
- Based on contributions to Senate Judiciary Committee members, interest groups that supported this motion (Police & fire fighters unions and associations) gave 46% more than interest groups that opposed this motion.
- Based on contributions to all senators, interest groups that opposed this motion (Telecommunications, Online computer services, Communications & electronics, Chambers of commerce, etc.) gave 8% more than interest groups that supported this motion.
The measure was supported by the California State Sheriffs’ Association and opposed by Internet giants such as eHarmony, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo! as well as business groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Based on the May 10 Judiciary Committee vote:
- Interest groups that supported this motion (Police & fire fighters unions and associations) gave 59% more to senators that voted YES than to senators that voted NO.
- Interest groups that opposed this motion (Telecommunications, Online computer services, Communications & electronics, Chambers of commerce, etc.) gave 93% more to senators that voted NO than to senators that voted YES.
Includes reported contributions to campaigns of senators in office from interest groups invested in the vote according to MapLight, January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2010. Contributions data source: FollowTheMoney.org.
