Google, Meta and TikTok have filed separate lawsuits to block California's Assembly Bill 1709, which bans personalized recommendations and autoplay for users under 16 and takes effect January 1, 2027.
Google, Meta and TikTok have filed separate lawsuits to block a California law that restricts social media features for children under 16, arguing it violates the First Amendment and Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act.
Assembly Bill 1709, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 10, prohibits social media platforms from offering users under 16 features such as personalized recommendations and autoplay videos. It also requires the deletion of children's accounts that retain those features and takes effect on January 1, 2027, unless a judge voids it or puts it on hold.
Google filed its lawsuit in federal court in San Jose. Meta sued in San Francisco. TikTok, a unit of China's ByteDance, sued in Los Angeles. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is the only defendant in the cases.
The companies said the law wrongly compels them to honor California's preferred means of presenting content to children and substitutes the state's judgment for that of parents.
"Parents are best positioned to make the right decisions for their families," Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said. "Overly broad laws like this actually break the systems we've built to help kids find high-quality, age-appropriate videos."
Meta said California cannot override its editorial judgments about how to curate and display billions of posts, while leaving children free to spend unlimited time on other online platforms that offer similar services.
TikTok argued that protected speech "cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable."
The office of Rob Bonta said on Thursday it was reviewing the lawsuits, adding, "Our office is committed to defending California's commonsense laws to protect kids online."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit digital rights advocacy group, called the law "a massive privacy and free speech nightmare."
In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and limit teenagers' use of Facebook and Instagram under agreements with nearly all U.S. states, which accused it of violating privacy and consumer protection laws. The platforms, along with Snap, still face thousands of lawsuits from individuals, school districts, municipalities and other government entities claiming they sought to addict children and caused a mental health crisis.
Australia has a ban on social media for children under 16.
The lawsuits test whether social media feeds count as protected speech or as product features that states can regulate. The outcome could guide lawmakers in other states considering similar restrictions on children's social media use.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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