California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction

California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed on Friday.

California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their children from getting social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children’s access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.

The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users’ personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the effects of social media on the well-being of children.

“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 said in a statement. “With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits.”

The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12am and 6am, and between 8am and 3pm on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children’s accounts to private by default.

Opponents of the legislation said it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their age. Some argue it would threaten online privacy by making platforms collect more information on users.