{"id":462693,"date":"2026-09-13T17:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T17:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/462693\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T17:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T17:12:15","slug":"california-enacts-laws-restricting-chatbots-and-banning-teens-from-addictive-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/462693\/","title":{"rendered":"California enacts laws restricting chatbots and banning teens from ‘addictive’ social media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0This story<\/a> was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

California teens will be barred from \u201caddictive\u201d social media products and limited in their interactions with chatbots under two of the 13 bills signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom today to protect kids online.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The law on addictive social media may be the most controversial. It will require social media companies<\/a> to either stop offering \u201caddictive\u201d tools like infinite scroll and autoplay to users under 16 or to keep those users off their platforms entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Authors say the law is necessary to address a teenage mental health crisis and that it will force social media companies to take long-awaited action.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents can\u2019t compete. Can\u2019t compete with the engineering, can\u2019t compete with the algorithms,\u201d Newsom said at a press conference announcing the laws. \u201cYou feel like you\u2019re a lousy parent.\u201d<\/p>\n

But digital rights organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation urged Newsom to veto the bill, calling it<\/a> \u201cwell-intentioned, but deeply flawed.\u201d That organization said the bill defines \u201caddictive features\u201d so broadly that it would effectively create a full ban on social media for kids under 16 and cut off youth from \u201cessential information and experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The measure limiting artificial intelligence chatbots<\/a> is more broadly supported, even by tech juggernaut OpenAI. Named after California teen Adam Raine, who died by suicide in 2025 after receiving tips from ChatGPT, the new law will impose time limits for minors and require built-in mental health resources. It will also mandate safety plans for chatbots. If a chatbot detects a threat of self-harm, the chatbot operator will be required to alert parents. Companies like OpenAI or other creators of chatbots could face legal liability for failing to act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRaising teens at this moment, those of us that are, we know the youth mental health crisis in an everyday reality,\u201d Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, one of the bill\u2019s authors, said after the bill\u2019s signing. \u201cThere isn\u2019t one of us that hasn\u2019t seen it first hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI has said<\/a> the law \u201cpairs strong protections with continued access to useful AI tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law builds on existing regulations on chatbots in California, like requiring the tools to notify users that they are interacting with AI.<\/p>\n

Those two were the most notable among several related measures Newsom also signed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One makes social media companies legally liable<\/a> for damages if their platforms harm a child. Another expands and revises<\/a> age-checking requirements, while a third expands companies\u2019 responsibilities for acting on child abuse content.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another will place a four-year moratorium<\/a> on AI-powered chatbot toys for kids under 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Newsom also signed two bills<\/a> that create<\/a> standards for independent AI tool auditors. Another new law clarifies requirements for businesses that create products \u201clikely to be accessed by children,\u201d preventing them from collecting children\u2019s data as a condition of using their services.<\/p>\n

The laws come amid mounting concern over how social media and AI tools may be damaging kids\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n

Adam Raine\u2019s death was one in a string of incidents<\/a> that alarmed parents about how their kids might be interacting with chatbots. Those concerns go beyond teens, too, as the tools are linked to increasing incidents of so-called \u201cAI psychosis,\u201d in which chatbots seem to encourage and feed delusional thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new legislation also comes on the heels of a landmark legal settlement<\/a> between Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta and a coalition of state attorneys general, including California\u2019s Rob Bonta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a major suit, the states accused Meta of knowingly damaging teens\u2019 mental health through addictive features like infinite scrolling and continued to promote those products even after the damage became clear internally. The suit has been compared to the Big Tobacco lawsuits of past decades.<\/p>\n

Last month, as the trial started, Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion to settle the case. Some of that money will be earmarked to address mental health harms for kids and states will decide where to spend the rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The settlement also requires Meta to change its products to address some of the mental health concerns. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will limit \u201clikes\u201d for underage users\u2019 accounts and stop sending notifications during school hours, among other limits.<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a> is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California teens will be barred from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2007,7,9,8,5037,4568],"class_list":["post-462693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-ai","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-gov-gavin-newsom","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}