California Strikes Back Against Big Tech: New Laws Protect Minors and Rein in AI Abuses
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Governor Gavin Newsom has taken a bold stand against corporate tech giants, signing legislation that bans exploitative infinite scroll and autoplay for users under 16, imposes steep fines on platforms that harm children, and demands accountability from AI chatbot operators.
In a decisive move to protect vulnerable youth from the predatory practices of profit-driven tech corporations, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of bills on Thursday. These laws directly challenge the unchecked power of social-media platforms by prohibiting the use of manipulative infinite scroll and autoplay features for users younger than 16, and by introducing robust safeguards for artificial-intelligence (AI) chatbots that have too often operated without oversight.
The measures, including AB 1709, empower families to reject surveillance-laden school-issued laptops, require AI operators to conduct thorough risk assessments before unleashing their products on the public, and mandate strong parental-control settings and crisis-response protocols for companion chatbots. The chatbot legislation, named in memory of Adam Raine—a teenager whose tragic suicide followed harmful interactions with a chatbot—underscores the urgent need to hold tech companies accountable for the damage their products inflict on young people.
Platforms that violate these social-media provisions face penalties of up to $1 million per child, a necessary deterrent against the reckless pursuit of profit at the expense of children’s well-being. The laws also expand child sexual-exploitation statutes to cover the growing threat of digitally altered and AI-generated sexual imagery of minors, closing loopholes that have allowed exploitation to flourish online.
Despite opposition from groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who claim these measures restrict minors’ online access, the governor’s office rightly emphasizes the need to curb algorithm-driven scrolling and other engineering choices that fuel addiction and exploitation. These reforms are a critical step toward reclaiming the internet from corporate interests and prioritizing the health and safety of children.
The new AI framework requires the state to establish a system for independent organizations to evaluate AI model safety and maintain a registry of AI auditors, ensuring transparency and accountability. This legislation follows a landmark settlement in which Meta was forced to pay up to $18 billion and implement usage limits for teen users in California and beyond—a clear signal that the era of unregulated tech excess is coming to an end.