The digital-rights organization also raised concerns about how platforms will determine users’ ages, arguing that compliance could lead companies to use verification systems involving government identification or biometric information.
The group characterized the measure as a “massive privacy and free speech nightmare.”
Newsom defended the approach Thursday, saying the law targets features designed to keep young users engaged rather than imposing a broad social media ban.
“This is about the features themselves,” Newsom said. “This is about addressing the problem: the scrolling, the algorithms. This is about addressing the substantive issue around the engineering.”
California already regulates addictive social media feeds for minors under the state’s Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, which generally restricts minors’ access to addictive feeds without parental consent and imposes other safeguards.