Newsom signs sweeping California online child safety laws

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a package of 13 bills imposing some of the most far-reaching online child-safety rules in the United States, restricting social media features for users under 16 and placing new obligations on artificial intelligence chatbot operators. The centerpiece measure, Assembly Bill 1709, bars social media platforms from serving addictive engagement features, such as infinite-scroll feeds and algorithmic autoplay, to users under 16, or requires them to keep those users off their platforms entirely. Additional features deemed psychologically exploitative are to be defined in future regulations. The bill passed the Legislature without a single no vote. Another key law, Senate Bill 1119, requires operators of AI companion chatbots to assess the risks their products pose to children, document the findings for an independent auditor, provide parental controls and in-app crisis support, and alert parents if a chatbot detects a threat of self-harm. The measure was named Adams Law in memory of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who died by suicide in April 2025 after, according to his parents, discussing suicidal thoughts with OpenAI's ChatGPT.