California Social Media Law Targets Addictive Design, Not A Teen Ban
California’s new online safety law restricts addictive design features for under-16 users while leaving younger users short of a full social media ban.
California has put addictive social media design, rather than teen access alone, at the centre of its latest online safety law, after Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than a dozen child-safety measures, ETTech carried in an AFP account.
The package includes a law barring social media companies from providing users under 16 with features the state defines as psychologically exploitative.
The covered design tools include infinite scroll, algorithmic recommendations and autoplay, making the rule a product-engineering restriction rather than a full account ban for younger users.
Newsom used a signing ceremony near San Francisco to contrast the California approach with Australia's under-16 ban.
“This is different than what Australia did,” he said, adding that the law is aimed at scrolling, algorithms and the underlying engineering rather than age access as the essential issue.
Australia's restriction took effect in December, but early Australian evidence points to uneven enforcement.
A July report from Australia's government found that many children were still using social media, a comparison Newsom presented as a reason to focus on addictive features instead of relying only on age gates.
The California measure also lands after Meta accepted comparable guardrails through litigation brought by California and many other US states over alleged breaches of child privacy and consumer protection rules.
Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, and a company spokesperson told AFP that it is committed to safe, age-appropriate teen experiences with proper guardrails.
Snap, TikTok and YouTube did not respond to requests for comment.
Other Thursday measures cover school technology, chatbot rules, age checks and child sexual abuse material.
The wider regulatory track is still moving: the European Union is expected to outline its own plan next week, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has weighed limits for children under 13 or a broader ban under 15.
The law leaves California with a narrower but more technical test than a ban.
Von der Leyen used a Thursday video to argue that addictive social media design should not be treated as unavoidable.
