Hoover backs ‘social media addiction’ bill that would ban youth under 16

The bill, which passed the Assembly Floor on May 28 with a 75-0 vote in favor, would both establish a minimum age of 16 instead of 13 for social media use, as well as establish an e-Safety Advisory Commission, and establish the framework for the issuance of fines to companies who are found to be out of compliance with the law. Four members of the Assembly did not vote according to CalMatters.

As of Aug. 3, the social media addiction act was unanimously approved by the California State Senate Appropriations Committee.

Operators of an addictive internet-based service, application, or platform that provides users with an addictive feed will no longer be allowed to allow minors under 16 to use the services, unless verifiable parental consent has been demonstrated.

If approved, owners and operators of software applications that use addictive feeds would be required to request age bracket data from users when the application is downloaded and launched.

A new established e-Safety Advisory Commission would help to provide ongoing oversight, research, and enforcement related to digital platform safety, addressing emerging risks associated with addictive design and ensuring age-appropriate protections for minors, lawmakers say, helping to “align digital platforms with established public health principles.”

“Establishing a minimum age requirement for social media use is a reasonable and evidence-based measure to reduce exposure to addictive digital environments during critical stages of neurological and psychological development,” the bill states.

Operators and owners of covered platforms with addictive feeds would also be subject to up to $50,000 in fines per impacted minor if the company was aware the user was under 16, and fines of up to $25,000 per minor impacted if the company is found negligent, in not knowing the user was under 16. The bill states that the size of the platform, the platform’s “good faith efforts” and the severity and duration of violations are taken into account when issuing fines.

In the text of the new social media bill, lawmakers who authored and coauthored the bill allege that social media platforms are “intentionally designed to maximize user engagement through features such as algorithmic content recommendation, infinite scroll, autoplay, and notifications, which mirror known behavioral reinforcement systems associated with addiction,” the text of the assembly bill states.

Lawmakers also allege that internal statements from social media company executives and researchers have confirmed that these platforms have been “engineered to encourage compulsive use” including through “dopamine-driven” feedback loops and reward systems designed to keep users coming back to the platform continuously. “often without regard to user well-being.”

Opponents of the bill state that the requirements of the bill would threaten the free speech and privacy of all users of social media. Those in opposition also argue that the amended language of the bill is too broad when defining “addictive feeds.”

“The bill defines “addictive feeds” so broadly that it covers virtually every functional recommendation algorithm,” one opponent writes, adding that forcing young users onto a “stripped-down, dysfunctional version of social media burdens their constitutional right to access information and participate in public discourse.”

Opponents also argue that, if the bill passes, platforms will be forced to enact stricter age verification processes, which can lead to breaches in privacy, create “honeypots of sensitive data,” potentially exposing users of all ages to data breaches.

Lawmakers allege that the current regulations in the state do not do enough to address the addictive design of social media platforms or provide consistent protections for minors under 16, despite “growing evidence of harm.”

The bill spent early 2026 circulating through the Assembly and passed the Assembly Floor with a unanimous vote of 76-0 in May, before moving through the Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection and Senate Judiciary committees in June with unanimous approval.

Previously the bill had passed through the Assembly Primary and Consumer Protection Committee and Assembly Judiciary Committee in April with only one dissent recorded in each committee.

According to CalMatters, after passing the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill has been placed on a suspense file, which signifies the bill needs to go through a fiscal review to determine potential financial impact to the state before it is passed onto the Governor.

In March, a Los Angeles jury found Google and Meta liable for a teen’s mental distress in just one of hundreds of trials across the country that are still ongoing over social media addiction, according to CalMatters.

Another social media law called the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act (Senate Bill 976) was signed in September 2024 and stops social media platforms from giving minors algorithmic, chronological “addictive feeds” and nighttime school-hour notifications without explicit parental consent.

The law bans platforms from prioritizing or recommending content based on user data to minors unless parents agree and blocks nighttime notifications from 12 to 6 a.m., along with school day notifications, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., from September through May on minors who have social media accounts. The law also forces social media platforms to provide parental control tools to manage privacy and time limits.