A California Assembly member representing Long Beach is introducing bills to keep kids under 16 off social media platforms and more tightly regulate companies that operate them after two juries recently ordered Meta and Google to pay hundreds of millions for harming children who sued them alleging their platforms are addictive and unsafe.<\/p>\n
Democratic Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal said the recent landmark court verdicts in New Mexico<\/a> and Los Angeles<\/a> \u201creaffirm our need to keep kids safe online.\u201d Yet while the rulings \u201care a good start,\u201d they don\u2019t protect children aside from the plaintiffs. Lowenthal aims to change that, demanding oversight of the multi-trillion-dollar industry of social media.<\/p>\n In recent years, he has proposed legislation to hold social media platforms accountable when they are found to have knowingly harmed children. Now, Lowenthal is taking that effort a step further, presenting two companion bills that forbid social media companies from granting access to children under 16 and create an oversight commission to establish safety standards.<\/p>\n Lowenthal said he is adopting the \u201cAustralia model,\u201d referencing the country\u2019s under-16 social media ban, which took effect in December 2025<\/a> and restricts minors\u2019 access to major platforms like TikTok and Instagram and levies hefty fines against companies for noncompliance.<\/p>\n Lowenthal\u2019s proposed age-gating legislation has gained bipartisan support in the state assembly, and Gov. Gavin Newsom has spoken out in favor of it. \u201cThe momentum is there,\u201d said Gwen Shaffer, a faculty member at Cal State Long Beach who teaches classes on internet regulation. (Shaffer also serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit that owns the Long Beach Post. She has no direct say in editorial decisions.)<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a possibility of an age verification law passing in the U.S., California is probably the place where it\u2019s going to pass,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Yet using technology to verify users\u2019 ages before granting access raises privacy issues, Shaffer said, adding that more clarity is needed around what system will be in place and how long users\u2019 data will be retained.<\/p>\n Others have raised concerns about the balance between protecting young users from harm without infringing on their First Amendment rights, \u201cthe central dilemma of the digital age,\u201d according to Jason Shepard, dean of the college of communications at Cal State Fullerton.<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia often sets the tone nationally, so if this law survives legal challenges, it could become a model,\u201d said Shepard.<\/p>\n In the absence of federal regulation, California has moved to crack down on kids\u2019 use of social media in the past. The state has passed laws that restrict social media platforms from providing addictive, algorithmic feeds<\/a> to minors without parental consent; force platforms to respond when adults report content that threatens kids\u2019 safety and display warning labels when minors use social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Lowenthal\u2019s legislation would be the state\u2019s most direct attempt to limit young users\u2019 use of social media. He called it a necessary \u201cdraconian measure.\u201d Lowenthal hopes that because courts have already ruled that social media platforms addict and harm minors, platforms may be less likely to challenge legislation like this. Alternatively, platforms may just \u201cdouble down on the party line\u201d that they already protect young users, Shaffer said.<\/p>\n