California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction

[quaint]

AP

California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.

The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users’ personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.

"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."

The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children’s accounts to private by default.

[MichMan]

1. Will all users be required to submit ID ?

How will they know who is and isn't a minor ?

[Cirsium]

3. They know

Of course the social media companies know who is and isn't a minor. They know everything about all of us. That's their business model.

[quaint]

2. There are already laws to protect minors from alcohol and other drugs, plus parental rights.

There are holes, still up to parents to be vigilant.

[LauraInLA]

4. I think this law is well-intentioned but will ultimately prove useless. I do hope they keep spitballing.