Newsom Signs California Laws to Shield Children From Social Media and AI Risks

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of laws on Thursday aimed at shielding children from the hazards of social media and artificial intelligence chatbots, marking one of the most aggressive state-level interventions into technology regulation in the United States.

The measures allow penalties of up to $1 million per child against large social media companies found negligent in harming minors through their platforms. They also prohibit tech businesses from offering addictive feeds to users under 16 and require operators of AI chatbots to carry out risk assessments before releasing their products.

Newsom appeared at a children's museum near San Francisco alongside his wife and state lawmakers to underline the stakes at a moment when young people enjoy near-unfettered access to social platforms and AI tools.

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan drew a comparison with physical safety standards, noting that cribs, chairs and car seats are all designed with protection in mind, yet technology handed to children has never been held to a similar expectation of safety.

The signings follow a settlement reached weeks earlier between Meta and California along with 28 other states. The states had alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that the company deliberately engineered features to addict children. Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and to strengthen its child safety measures.

Newsom described the occasion as a positive step for the state's youngest residents and said the laws underscored California's leadership on the issue.

Meta, however, voiced reservations about parts of the package. Company spokesperson Jim Cullinan said the restriction on addictive feeds curtails its ability to deliver enjoyable content, arguing that a tailored experience is central to the value Facebook and Instagram offer teenagers as they connect with family and friends and explore their interests safely. He added that personalisation helps the platforms serve age-appropriate content with proper guardrails in place.

The governor has navigated a delicate path on technology policy across nearly eight years in office in the nation's most populous state, whose standing as a global tech hub he has frequently highlighted in speeches. Last year he signed a law obliging platforms to remind users when they are interacting with a chatbot rather than a human, only to veto hours later a bill that would have barred companies from making AI chatbots available to anyone under 18 unless they could guarantee the technology would not engage in sexual conversations or encourage self-harm. In 2024 he also signed legislation restricting student use of smartphones in schools.

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Democrat who helped draft the law imposing penalties on companies for harming children, said the timing was critical, observing that technology is advancing faster than government can erect guardrails.

On Wednesday, Newsom signed separate laws intended to improve oversight of AI companies. Those bills, backed by Anthropic, direct the state to establish rules for independent organisations evaluating the safety risks of AI models and to create a registry of AI auditors who would be required to remain financially independent from the businesses they examine.