California State Assembly passes 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' which he says 'puts journalists at civil risk for investigating fraud'

The California State Assembly has passed a piece of legislation dubbed the "Stop Nick Shirley Act," which opponents have said would silence citizen journalists. The bill passed in the chamber 57-19, with all votes in favor coming from Democrats. 

Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, who had voted against the bill passing out of committee in April, warned at the time that the bill would "silence citizen journalists and shield taxpayer-funded organizations from public scrutiny" as independent journalists such as Nick Shirley have been scrutinizing the state.

AB 2624 was authored by Democrat Mia Bonta, the wife of California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Her office claimed that "right-wing agitators, ineffective legislators, and Trump loyalists are intentionally spreading significant misinformation" about the bill, and that it was meant to protect workers in immigration services. 

The originally bill would prohibit the posting of personal information or the image "of any designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer, or other individuals residing at the same home address" online with the "intent" to "Incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to the designated immigration support services provider," or to "Threaten the designated immigration support services provider."

After backlash against the bill, however, it was amended to read that people are prohibited from posting such information or images of the program participant or the participant’s residing spouse or child "specifically intending to incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to such an individual that is likely to occur imminently or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm to such an individual."

A section was also removed that stated a person "shall not publicly post or publicly display on the internet the home address of a program participant who has made a written demand of that person, business, or association to not disclose the home address of the program participant."

Nick Shirley wrote in the wake of the bill passing, "This bill puts journalists at civil risk for investigating fraud and makes it harder to expose fraud in 'immigration support services,' including NGOs, nonprofits and health care facilities that receive hundreds of millions from the state of California each year. This bill would have made it criminal to expose fake hospices in LA or the Somali 'learing center' in Minnesota if they then claim “reasonable fear” and the business owner gives a written demand not to post the video."