California Bars Autoplay for Social Media Users Under 16
Governor Newsom signed the ban on Sept. 10, after both houses passed it without a no vote. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. Parental consent will not restore autoplay or a personalized feed.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Sept. 10 that prohibits social media companies from offering autoplay and personalized feeds to users under 16 in California.
He signed it in Marin County, with First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The Assembly had voted 78 to 0. The Senate had voted 39 to 0.
The restriction takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027. Nothing on a child's phone changes before then.
The restriction begins Jan. 1, 2027, and it applies in California. Companies must withhold autoplay and history-based feeds from users under 16, even when a parent agrees.
What the bill covers
Assembly Bill 1709, carried by Josh Lowenthal, a Democrat from Long Beach, uses the term "addictive feature." The statute names autoplay. It also names a feed that chooses the next post from a user's history and profile.
An account may stay open. The platform has to keep those features off it for anyone under 16, and it has to take reasonable steps to do so.
An earlier California law allowed an addictive feed if a parent consented. Under the new statute, that consent does not restore the features for a user under 16.
Chatbots, on a later date
The same day, Mr. Newsom signed a companion-chatbot measure the governor's office is calling Adam's Law, after Adam Raine. It requires a crisis protocol when a child raises suicide, parental controls, and a notice if a child turns safety settings off.
Operators must also submit to an independent child-safety audit. Those duties begin July 1, 2027.
A separate bill in the package bars, for four years, the manufacture and sale of toys that contain a companion chatbot.
When it takes effect
The statute sets no bedtime and does not order companies to delete accounts. It regulates the design of the product.
Until Jan. 1, the only limit in force is the one a household already sets. After that date, autoplay and the personalized feed are supposed to stop for California users under 16.
Companies may apply the rule only inside the state. Some may choose to use one version of the product nationwide. The statute does not require that.