What is the Stop Nick Shirley Act? A Complete Breakdown of AB 2624 and YouTubers’ Conflicts with California

The bill passed the California Assembly by a vote of 57 to 19 on May 26 and has now been transferred to the Senate for consideration.

Read more: ‘Nearly taken hostage’: Nick Shirley stranded in Cuba plotting ‘escape’ route

AB 2624 was introduced by California Assemblywoman Mia Bonta earlier this year. Its official name is “Privacy for Immigration Support Service Providers”.

According to the text of the bill, it seeks to extend California’s existing “Safer at Home” confidentiality protections to immigrant support service providers, employees and volunteers who face threats, harassment or violence as a result of their work.

The text of the bill states that people would be prohibited from posting, selling or sharing online personal information or images of immigration service providers, their employees, volunteers or family members if the intent is to promote harassment, violence or credible threats. It would also create new criminal offenses and impose additional responsibilities on local agencies.

Read more: Nick Shirley claims ‘death threats’ made staying in hotel dangerous

According to the YouTuber, AB 2624 will make it more difficult to expose wrongdoing involving organizations that serve immigrant communities.

Shirley claimed in an X post discussing the legislation that the bill could be used to intimidate journalists and citizen investigators, exposing them to lawsuits, attorney fees and financial penalties.

He argued that investigations into alleged fraud involving immigrant support groups could create legal risks if workers claimed they faced “reasonable fear” or harassment.

Conservatives and critics have also expressed these concerns. Some believe the proposal could have a chilling effect on watchdog reporting and citizen journalism.

Republican Carl DeMaio said, “Under AB 2624, entities like Learing Day Care Center in Somalia would be covered if they operate within California.”