California bill would force social platforms to strip addictive features for under-16s

California Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal has reworked AB 1709, a bill originally modeled on Australia’s outright social media ban for minors, into a mandate targeting product design rather than access. The revised version requires companies like Meta and Reddit to offer users under 16 a less addictive feed—stripped of infinite scroll, autoplay, and engagement-maximizing recommendation algorithms—or else bar those users from creating accounts entirely. The bill gives platforms until 2028 to comply and would stand up an expert oversight group advising the state Attorney General, who could also designate additional features as ‘addictive.’

The pivot from a de facto ban came after pushback across several legislative hearings. Critics warned that age-gating could isolate vulnerable teens, particularly LGBTQ youth who rely on online community, while others flagged that mandatory age verification raises data-privacy concerns and that restricting access could invite First Amendment challenges. Lowenthal’s counterargument is that infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and recommendation feeds are product features, not protected speech—a framing meant to insulate the bill from free-speech litigation. State Sen. Scott Wiener called addictive feeds ‘disgusting’ but voted the earlier version out of committee only ‘with trepidation,’ pressing for exactly the redesign Lowenthal ultimately adopted.

The fight also underscores Big Tech’s heavy footprint in Sacramento. Lowenthal met with Meta just once—rejecting the company’s parental-controls proposal—and pointedly noted Meta’s roughly $65 million in California lobbying, saying its presence should alarm everyone, though he denied the amendments were driven by industry pressure. A TechNet lobbyist, who had warned that a hard ban would push teens toward unregulated platforms, welcomed the new approach. The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.