What just happened? Google, Meta and TikTok are suing California over its latest attempt to stop children from becoming addicted to social media. The companies have filed separate lawsuits challenging a law that restricts addictive features for children under 16, arguing that the state is impinging on free speech and parental authority.
The complaints filed on Wednesday are against Parliament’s Bill 1709. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure on Sept. 10 as part of a broader package on social media and AI chatbot security. It is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2027.
The restrictions include personalized feeds, endless scrolling, and autoplay videos, all of which are defined as “psychologically exploitative features.” Platforms must also take reasonable measures to verify the age of users. The goal is to stop companies from pushing features designed to keep kids scrolling long after they’re ready to put their phones down, which sounds like a good thing.
According to Reuters, the companies argue that California dictates how they present content and replaces parental judgment with its own. Their challenges invoke the First Amendment and the widely used Section 230, which broadly shields platforms from liability for user-generated content.
According to Meta, the state cannot override its editorial decisions regarding the organization and display of posts. Google argues the restrictions could undermine systems that help children find appropriate videos, while TikTok says they hurt free speech and parental choice.
Google also points out that parents are the ones who should decide what is appropriate for their families, citing the parental controls and protections in place.
“Overly broad laws like this actually destroy the systems we’ve built to help kids find high-quality, age-appropriate videos,” said Google spokesman José Castañeda.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office told the Guardian it was reviewing the lawsuits and would defend the state’s child protection laws.
It’s not just the social media giants who are speaking out against the law. The Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that age verification could force everyone to reveal more personal information. It also argues that eliminating recommendation tools could effectively exclude young people from online communities.
The fight follows Meta’s August agreement to pay up to $18 billion and change the way teenagers use Facebook and Instagram to settle government child safety claims. These changes include default timeouts and mandatory scroll pauses.
Much of the world is now introducing restrictions or bans on social media use for young people. In Australia, the first country to introduce such a law, Reddit has challenged the ban on under-16s in the Supreme Court, arguing that it restricts political communication and that the platform is not actually a social media site.
