State Senator Richard Pan has surveyed the state of California. Not for the sights so much. Not for the landscape, beaches, and illegal immigration problem. No, he surveyed California in a hunt to find one tiny corner of the state the government has yet to regulate. His options were pants, or social media. He chose option B. Though don't think he's not coming for pants next.

To summarize SB-1424:

Existing law prohibits a person, among others, from making or disseminating in any advertising device, or in any manner or means whatever, including over the Internet, any statement concerning real or personal property or services that is untrue or misleading, as specified.

This bill would require any person who operates a social media, as defined, Internet Web site with a physical presence in California to develop a strategic plan to verify news stories shared on its Web site. The bill would require the plan to include, among other things, a plan to mitigate the spread of false information through news stories, the utilization of fact-checkers to verify news stories, providing outreach to social media users, and placing a warning on a news story containing false information.

Now here's the rub. Define fake news. As you saw from the public coloscopy that Mark Zuckerberg received yesterday (see Ted Cruz HAMMERS Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook's Anti-Conservative Bias and Ben Sasse Asks Mark Zuckerberg to Define "Hate Speech." It Doesn't Go Well.), the people publishing ideas can't define it. Nor can they define "hate speech." Or they simply can't define it honestly. "Fake news" is usually defined as anything which contradicts the left's preexisting opinion. But, according to the left, "fake news" does not include easily debunked Vox pieces. Or clickbait tabloids like HuffPo or BuzzFeed.

Fake news also doesn't refer to #RESIST social media managers who send misleading tweets they know contradict the link attached. Because they know you aren't going to click the link.

Facebook can't even define a fact-checker when "fact-checkers" are fact-checking parody sites. We're deadly serious about this one. Facebook fact-checked a parody site. Parody. It's like Nancy Pelosi "fact-checking" Obamacare. A bill sne never even read.

No. This is just another leftist politician trying to regulate free speech. Which in California, will probably be illegal by the summertime.

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