California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive content to minors without parental consent starting in 2027, under a new law signed Friday by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
California follows New York state, which this year passed a law allowing parents to block their children from receiving social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm.
Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting minors’ access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state that is home to some of the world’s largest technology companies. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a law — the first in the country — in 2022 that prohibits online platforms from using users’ personal information in ways that could harm children.
The move is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on children’s well-being.
“Every parent knows the damage that social media addiction can inflict on their children: isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours spent late into the night,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this bill, California is helping to protect children and teens from deliberately designed tools that fuel these destructive habits.”
The law prohibits platforms from sending notifications without parental permission to minors between midnight and 6 a.m. and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday from September to May, when children are typically in school.
The law also requires platforms to set children’s accounts to private by default.
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