California Governor Newsom signs law banning addictive social media features for minors

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1709 on September 10, 2026, banning social media platforms from providing addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay to minors under 16 without parental consent. Part of a 13-bill digital safety package, the laws also regulate AI chatbots, ban chatbot-equipped toys, and establish 'Adam's Law' following a teen's suicide. While praised by advocates, the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the measures as a privacy and free speech nightmare.

California social media law

• ▪Assembly Bill 1709 was signed as part of a package of 13 digital safety bills enacted by California Governor Gavin Newsom to protect minors from online technology risks
• ▪California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1709 on September 10, 2026, prohibiting social media platforms from providing behaviorally addictive features to users under the age of 16 without parental consent

Addictive features ban

• ▪The California law defines the prohibited social media designs as psychologically exploitative features intended to maximize engagement that foreseeably lead to compulsive use
• ▪The California legislation targets specific social media features including infinite-scroll feeds, algorithmic autoplay, and algorithmic recommendations that rely on user information to decide which content to show

AI chatbot safety requirements

• ▪The newly enacted California measures ban the manufacture and sale of toys equipped with companion chatbots for the next four years
• ▪California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring artificial intelligence companies to disclose to young users that they are interacting with a chatbot rather than a human
• ▪The California chatbot safety legislation requires parental controls on chatbot programs alongside safety and risk assessments to restrict dangerous content on topics like self-harm

Adam's Law memorial legislation

• ▪OpenAI acknowledged that its ChatGPT safeguards became less reliable as user interactions grew more prolonged and stated its intention to improve those safeguards
• ▪The California chatbot regulation bill was dubbed "Adam's Law" in memory of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy who died by suicide in April 2025
• ▪The parents of Adam Raine stated that their son acted on suicidal thoughts that were validated during months of discussion with OpenAI's ChatGPT program

Mental health litigation trends

• ▪Meta agreed in August 2026 to pay up to $18 billion over the next decade and limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram to resolve civil claims from nearly all U.S. states
• ▪Thousands of teens, schools, and states have filed lawsuits accusing Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube of hooking young users with addictive products compared to cigarettes

Free speech criticism

• ▪The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the California child safety legislation, calling the bill a massive privacy and free speech nightmare
• ▪Critics of the California social media bill objected to the measures as an unnecessary restriction on the internet access of young people

Debatable claims

• ▪California should prohibit social media platforms from offering addictive features to minors
• ▪California should ban toys equipped with AI companion chatbots
• ▪Social media companies should be held legally liable for addicting teenage users