In response to California Governor Gavin Newsom signing into law a package of children’s online safety bills, including AB 1709, which bars social media platforms from offering certain design features to users under 16, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, issued the following statement from Policy Analyst Alex Ambrose:
This bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing, claiming to shield children from harmful online features while, in effect, banning young people's access to online tools altogether. It pushes age-verification requirements and imposes complex compliance burdens on social media companies. Combined with potential conflicts with existing California law, this will likely invite legal challenges that render the bill unenforceable.
"Addictive design" is a platitude that doesn't target specific harms to children online, instead scapegoating certain features, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and recommendation algorithms, despite little scientific evidence proving actual harm. Because "addictiveness" is arbitrarily defined, and most social media platforms contain features critics could label as "addictive," the practical result is restrictions on young people's access to most social media.
The package's goal of protecting children online is laudable. But as a whole, California's approach is one that other states should avoid, or risk creating more problems than they solve.
Contact: Nicole Hinojosa, [email protected]
