California cracks down on addictive social media feeds for youngsters

California follows New York State, which passed a law earlier this 12 months allowing parents to block their children from having social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm. Utah has passed laws lately aimed toward restricting children’s access to social media, but they’re Challenges in court.

The California law will take effect in a state that’s home to a few of the world’s largest technology corporations. Similar suggestions have failed lately, but Newsom signed a first law within the country in 2022, online platforms is not going to be allowed to make use of their users’ personal information in ways that would harm children. This is a component of a growing initiative in states across the country to deal with the impact of social media on kid’s well-being.

“Every parent knows the damage social media addiction can do to their children – isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night,” Newsom said in an announcement. “With this law, California is helping to protect children and teens from intentionally designed features that encourage these destructive habits.”

The law prohibits platforms from sending notifications to minors without parental permission on weekdays between midnight and 6 a.m. and between 8 a.m. and three p.m., when children are frequently at college. The law also requires platforms to set kid’s accounts to personal by default.

Opponents of the law say it could inadvertently prevent adults who cannot prove their age from accessing content. Others argue it might jeopardize online privacy by requiring platforms to gather more details about their users.

The law defines an “addictive feed” as a web site or app “in which multiple media items created or shared by users are recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user, either simultaneously or sequentially, based in whole or in part on information provided by the user or otherwise associated with the user or the user’s device,” with some exceptions.

The issue gained renewed attention in June when US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to Require warnings on social media platforms and its impact on young people. Attorneys general in 42 states endorsed the plan in a letter to Congress last week.

Democratic Sen. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley, who authored the California law, said after lawmakers passed the bill last month: “The social media companies have designed their platforms to keep users addicted, especially our children.”

“With the passage of SB 976, the California Legislature sent a clear message: If social media companies don’t act, it’s our responsibility to protect our children,” she said in an announcement.