California Signs Laws Restricting Teens' Use of Social Media and AI Chatbots

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed multiple measures on Sept. 10, 2026, aimed at protecting minors from potential harms associated with social media and AI chatbots. The new laws require AI chatbot companies to enforce time limits for young users, provide mental health resources, and put in place safety protocols for situations where minors discuss self-harm. Parents must be notified if a child disables safety settings.

AI companies are now required to conduct independent child safety audits and annual risk assessments. Failure to comply may expose them to legal liability. The latest actions follow previously signed legislation that created broader frameworks for auditing AI companies' compliance with California law.

One of the most contentious measures targets social media. Companies are barred from offering users under 16 access to potentially "addictive" features, defined broadly to include autoplaying videos, notifications, and personalized algorithm-driven content feeds. Critics such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue this amounts to a functional ban on social media for teenagers. The group said denying minors access to digital forums or removing basic tools needed to navigate them would not make young people safer or healthier in the AI age, and that age verification could force all users to disclose more personal information, raising privacy concerns.

Other signed bills expand the definition of child sexual exploitation to include AI-generated or digitally altered images, and provide new protections against targeted advertising while regulating AI systems' use of data about K-12 students.