About Right to Remove

Our mission

False and malicious posts can follow a person for years. Today, the only real path to a court ruling is a defamation lawsuit, which most people cannot afford. Right to Remove exists to change that in California, through the Legislature, in the open, and within the limits of the First Amendment and federal law.

What we propose

• A narrow court process. A low cost way to ask a judge whether one specific statement is false. The person asking carries the burden of proof, by clear and convincing evidence.
• Due process for the other side. The author gets notice, time to respond and a hearing before any ruling. Either side can appeal. If the author is anonymous, any step to identify them is supervised by the court.
• Remedies aimed at the author. After a final finding that a statement is false and defamatory, the court can order its author to remove or correct it. The ruling is certified so anyone can check that it is real.
• Section 230 respected. Federal law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, protects websites and search engines from being treated as the publisher of what their users post, and a state law cannot override it. Our proposals do not require any platform or search engine to remove anything. They may choose to honor a court's ruling; the state cannot force them to.
• No pay to remove. No site should be able to charge people to take down posts about them.

Read the full list on the proposal section of our home page.

What we oppose

• Censorship of opinion. Criticism, negative reviews and harsh opinions are protected speech, and our proposals do not touch them.
• Removing journalism or truthful speech. Accurate reporting, whistleblowing and true statements, however unwelcome, stay up.
• Takedowns by complaint. Nothing should come down because someone objects to it. Every remedy we support follows a decision by a judge, after both sides are heard.
• Abuse of the process. We support penalties for fraudulent requests and forged court orders.

Our roadmap for the 2027 session

When	What happens
Fall 2026	We build public support, gather stories, and ask legal experts and committee staff to review our proposals. The current two year session ends on November 30, 2026.
December 7, 2026	The California Legislature convenes for its 2027 and 2028 session. Newly elected members are sworn in.
Early 2027	We ask legislators to author a bill. A bill needs a legislator to introduce it.
February 2027	The deadline to introduce new bills is expected in February 2027, but the official 2027 calendar is not yet published. We will post the exact date when it is.
Spring 2027	If a bill is introduced, policy committees such as Judiciary hold hearings and vote.
Later in 2027	Bills that pass both houses go to the Governor to sign or veto.

Where this stands today: no bill has been introduced, and no legislator has agreed to author one yet.

Who we are

Right to Remove is an independent advocacy campaign run by volunteers. We launched in October 2026.

• We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. Our guides explain the law in general terms.
• We are not yet a registered nonprofit. We are evaluating a fiscal sponsor. We are not accepting donations, and we will publish who receives funds and how they are used before we do.
• We do not sell reputation services and we never accept payment to remove or promote content.
• We list no endorsements, advisers or partners unless they have agreed in writing. Today there are none to list.

How we handle stories, sources and corrections is set out in our standards. Journalists and legislative staff can reach us through press and contact.