California Enacts Laws Restricting Chatbots and Banning Teens From 'Addictive' Social Media
The package also adds parental controls, chatbot safety rules and criminal penalties for AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
- On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed "Adam's Law," a package of 13 bills barring children under 16 from addictive social media features and banning toys containing AI companion chatbots.
- The legislation honors Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who died by suicide in April 2025 after his parents said he acted on suicidal thoughts validated during months of discussion with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
- Companies must stop offering "addictive" tools like infinite scroll to users under 16, complementing a recent $18 billion settlement where Meta agreed to limit features harming teens' mental health.
- While gaining bipartisan support, the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the bill as "well-intentioned, but deeply flawed," arguing it effectively creates a social media ban for minors under 16.
- California joins states like Utah and Arkansas in regulating youth tech access, with Newsom touting the measures as the most far-reaching of their kind to protect minors from digital harms.
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20 Articles
California will ban platforms from offering addictive functions to children under 16 years of age. The bill will enter into force in 2027
Times of San Diego
California enacts laws restricting chatbots and banning teens from 'addictive' social media
One law builds on existing regulations on chatbots in California, like requiring the tools to notify users that they are interacting with AI.
After Teen's Death, California Passes 'Adam's Law' to Regulate AI Chatbots - Charisma Magazine Online
The nation’s largest state is cracking down on tech companies in an attempt to protect children. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of 13 bills Thursday aimed at shielding children from potential dangers associated with social media, artificial intelligence, and other technology. “I’m honored to be here, and I’m honored to be able to […]
Gavin Newsom signed a law that bans addictive social media functions for children under 16 years of age in California; he knows the details of the rule.
[Yomiuri Shimbun] [Los Angeles - Tomoki Masuda] On the 10th, California passed a state law prohibiting social networking service providers from offering features considered highly addictive to minors under the age of 16. Amid a wave of lawsuits across the United States against IT companies over social networking addiction, this law addresses the issue of minors
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