Newsom signs bill to make tech companies protect kids online

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a pair of laws fought by the tech industry that will force social media companies to adopt safety guidelines for Californians under 18 and publicize their content moderation policies.

A proposal Newsom approved Thursday will set new standards for online spaces often visited by children, like YouTube and TikTok, such as limiting push notifications late at night. A separate bill on content moderation, which came in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, will require social media companies to report to the state data on their enforcement actions against users.

Newsom, a Democrat and father of four who has close ties to the tech world, signaled plans to support children’s mental health initiatives in August but had not publicly backed either bill before this week.

“We’re taking aggressive action in California to protect the health and wellbeing of our kids,” Newsom said in a statement, adding that as a parent, “I’m familiar with the real issues our children are experiencing online.”

California’s adoption of both bills marked back-to-back blows for the tech sector, whose lobbyists had argued such laws would set costly new rules and stall innovation. Some have suggested the legislation could infringe on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects online platforms from being held liable for what is posted on them.

“These bills would create significant and potentially costly compliance requirements that may unintentionally stifle innovation and competition. The measures require study, as they may raise constitutional concerns and conflict with federal law,” said Khara Boender, state policy director for the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

The companies will have until mid-2024 to adhere to the new rules aimed at shielding young Californians from online predators and social media addiction, among other harms. The law, AB 2273, also restricts the collection and sharing of kids’ personal data, specifically information that's unrelated to the online platform’s services.

California’s new legislation raises the stakes of a data privacy proposal being debated in Congress — which, as written, would override such state regulations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her support for California's AB 2273 as she called for changes to the federal bill to make sure it wouldn’t undercut the state's laws.

“States must be allowed to address rapid changes in technology,” she said in a statement.

Industry lobbyists in Sacramento tried unsuccessfully to exclude older teens from the new law. But the law will give businesses 90 days to make fixes before they can be subject to fines, a provision sought by companies.

The bill sped through California’s Legislature at the end of August without a single "no" vote, with lawmakers sharing stories about their own children and grandchildren’s relationships to social media and technology. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) was the proposal’s main author.

The bill's sponsor, the London-based 5Rights Foundation, helped enact similar rules in the U.K. that took effect last year. Tech giants reacted to the U.K. rules by tamping down the accessibility and intrusiveness of certain features for kids. TikTok and Instagram, for example, turned direct messaging off between children and adults who don't follow each other.

California’s new privacy protections and design features will extend to anyone under 18 who accesses the internet in California, even if the company in question is headquartered out of state. At a news conference last month outside the state Capitol, Wicks and other supporters said they hoped the rules would ripple beyond state lines.

Youth advocates from the #GoodforMEdia campaign published an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sept. 7 calling for Newsom to sign the bill. Another campaign led by youth advocates, the Design It For Us campaign, has been rallying around the bill’s passage for the past few months, taking out a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times and sending a billboard-covered truck to legislators at a tech summit in Napa.

“Safety parameters exist on everything that kids touch except social media. Social media was not designed for children, it was designed for adults,” said Emi Kim, legislative director for the LogOff Movement, at the Sacramento news conference.