A proposed law would make California, home to the world’s largest tech companies, the first state to require social media platforms to post warnings about the risks they pose to mental health.
Backed by state Attorney General Rob Bonta, the legislation is seen by supporters as necessary to make children safer online, but business leaders have vowed to fight the measure and others like it.
Social media warning labels have gained bipartisan support from dozens of attorneys general after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy earlier this year called on Congress to enact the mandate, saying social media is one of the factors driving the mental health crisis among young people.
“These companies know the negative impact their products can have on our children, but they refuse to take action to make them safer,” Bonta said at a press conference Monday. “Time is running out. It’s time to demand change.”
About 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds say they use a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center.
Parental concerns prompted Australia to pass its first-ever law banning social media access for children under 16 in November.
“The promise of social media, while real, has evolved into a situation where our children’s attention has become a commodity,” the bill’s author, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a California legislator, said Monday.
“The attention economy is using our children and their well-being to make money for these California companies,” she said.
A group supporting the bill, Common Sense Media, has already said it will take action in other states to create similar bills.
Over the past decade, California has positioned itself as a leader in regulating and cracking down on the tech industry to try to make children safer online.
The state became the first in 2022 to ban online platforms from using users’ personal information in ways that could be harmful to children.
California was among the states that sued Meta in 2023 and TikTok in October for deliberately designing addictive features that keep children hooked on their platforms.
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