With Assembly Bill 2624, also known as Privacy for Immigration Support Service Providers, California Democrats want to let eligible individuals keep their home addresses confidential and ban the sharing of photos or personal information that could lead to any type of harassment or harm online.
AB 2624 would also allow victims to seek $4,000 in damages and subject violators to fines of up to $10,000 or even a year in jail.
Talking about this on Fox News Channel, independent journalist Nick Shirley said lawmakers are trying to scare people away from talking about the fraud taking place in U.S. communities.
"Think about it. They're literally willing to impose a $10,000 fine or imprisonment if you go and seek to find out the truth about a location that could potentially be fraudulent inside your own neighborhood," he said.
Shirley has made headlines in recent months for his investigative reports of fraud in Minnesota. Among his findings was a taxpayer-funded "Quality Learing Center" (pictured above) set up by Somali immigrants.
The YouTuber believes people have a right to know what is going on in their communities and where money is going.
"In these states like Minnesota and California, they've been proven to let fraud take place inside these immigrant communities," Shirley told host Will Cain. "You had the Somalians in Minnesota and Armenians in California. They're trying to protect these people who are committing this fraud, and they're stealing millions upon millions of dollars."
It makes Shirley wonder about the donors of Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), wife of Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-California), who is pushing the legislation.
"Why would they create this bill to then try and make it harder to expose fraud?" he reasons.
After AB 2624 advanced in committee, California Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio coined it the "Stop Nick Shirley Act," recognizing the measure aims to restrict investigative and citizen journalism.
Other critics and conservative commentators have since adopted the phrase.
The bill is currently inactive and effectively dead for the 2025–2026 session, but it could be revived later.
