California ban on ‘addictive’ social media for teens heads to Newsom
SACRAMENTO, California — State lawmakers on Monday approved a plan to ban social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok from offering allegedly addictive features to teens, teeing up Gov. Gavin Newsom to deliver a final decision on a child safety issue spanning global politics.
“Parents are asking us to step up and protect their children from the harmful design choices built into today’s social media platforms,” said Democratic state Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, who authored the bill. “We have a responsibility to listen and respond.”
The bill’s passing comes on the heels of a major settlement deal reached last week with Meta, totaling up to $18 billion, over claims brought by dozens of state attorneys general that the social media giant knew its flagship Instagram and Facebook platforms posed youth addiction and mental health risks.
It’s also part of an emerging trend of politicians opting to restrict specific design elements of social media that experts say foster youth addiction, rather than passing laws like those in Australia, France and Malaysia that outright block kids from creating accounts on major platforms.
Lowenthal’s proposed ban, AB 1709, would restrict teens under 16 from accessing certain features designed to maximize screen time, like infinite scrolling and autoplaying videos on YouTube. He said it “regulates how the platforms are designed for kids, not whether kids can access social media altogether.”
It passed the state Legislature on Monday evening with overwhelming support from Democrats and Republicans in both chambers.
“At the end of the day, it is incumbent on lawmakers to actually follow through with more policies that are going to help protect kids, not just the courts,” said Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover, a joint author of the legislation.
The proposal comes as Washington remains gridlocked on kids’ online safety issues, despite bipartisan support for stricter controls in Congress. Federal lawmakers have sparred over the right approach to regulating social media, as have tech companies like Meta and Google, which have lobbied for their preferred child safety policies in Congress and in California.
Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, who is a staunch critic of California Democrats and who voted in favor of the legislation, said state lawmakers “have to move forward” on social media regulation “in the absence of responsible leadership and action by our U.S. Congress.”
“This is not one side of the aisle or the other,” he added. “It’s the entire institution that has failed to act.”
Newsom hasn’t directly said whether he’ll sign or veto the bill, but he appears likely to approve it: As POLITICO reported first earlier this year, the governor has said he supports restricting social media access for teens under 16. He also called on lawmakers to explore stricter youth online safety guardrails during his final State of the State address.
Newsom has until Sept. 30 to decide whether he’ll sign or veto all bills.