California made it illegal for social media companies to knowingly send children addictive feeds without parental consent under a new bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The law, which will take effect in 2027, forbids the platforms from sending notifications to minors without permission from their parents between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. and between 8 a.m.and 3 p.m. during weekdays from September through May when they are in school, the Associated Press reported.
It also requires the platforms to set children’s accounts to private by default.
“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, who signed the bill Friday, said in a statement.
“With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits,” the Democratic governor added.
An “addictive feed” is described in the law as a website or app “in which multiple pieces of media generated or shared by users are, either concurrently or sequentially, recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user based, in whole or in part, on information provided by the user, or otherwise associated with the user or the user’s device,” the AP reported.
The legislation comes amid growing national concern over the well-being of children who are bombarded with notifications and messages from the platforms that many believe contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety among young people.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in June appealed to Congress to require social media companies to post tobacco-style health warnings for adolescents, saying they are an “important contributor” to a mental health crisis for children.
That month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the “Safe for Kids Act” legislation that protects children from potential harm from social media algorithms.
The California legislation, backed by the Association of California School Administrators and the American Academy of Pediatrics, was sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Nancy Skinner.
Under the law “social media companies will no longer have the right to addict our kids to their platforms, sending them harmful and sensational content that our kids don’t want and haven’t searched for,” she said in a statement.
“From this day forward, California will be a safe haven, protecting our kids from social media addiction,” Skinner added.
The legislation was opposes by the American Civil Liberties Union of California, and organizations representing TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
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