California lawmakers have advanced a sweeping attempt to wall off kids from the stickiest parts of social media. The state Assembly has unanimously approved AB 1709, which would bar platforms with "addictive" feeds from offering accounts to anyone under 16 and require them to deploy "reasonable" age checks, Courthouse News reports. Authored by Democratic Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, the bill focuses not on users' speech, but on engagement tools such as autoplay, algorithm-driven feeds, and nonstop alerts.
"We are not prohibiting children from accessing social media," Lowenthal says. "We are prohibiting social media from accessing our children." Social media companies, he says, have "unfettered access to vulnerable, developing minds," and "have adopted design choices that malignantly target users' neurological systems, leading to addiction, depression, and, in grave circumstances, death." The measure passed 72-0 on Thursday and now heads to the state Senate. It would be overseen by a new e-Safety Advisory Commission reporting to the attorney general.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has expressed support for social media age restrictions similar to the measures introduced in Australia last year. During debate on the bill, lawmakers cited their own experiences as parents, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "California is finally saying enough is enough," said Democratic Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. "There actually is something that brings Republicans and Democrats together today, and it's our kids."
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