US social media crackdown: New laws target minors and big tech

Following California's landmark crackdown, the United States is rapidly accelerating its push toward unprecedented federal restrictions on youth digital access.

Lawmakers are taking a hardline stance against big tech to safeguard adolescent mental health. This pivotal shift signals a new era of strict accountability for online platforms nationwide.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a sweeping package of bipartisan legislation designed to establish some of the country's strictest regulations on social media platforms and artificial intelligence to protect children online.

The newly signed law on September 10, follows tech company restrictions barring children under 16 from exposure to behaviorally addictive features on social media platforms and banning toys containing AI companion chatbots.

The two measures were among 13 bills Newsom enacted as a package designed to safeguard young people from technology seen as putting them at risk, including greater online privacy protection for minors.

Banning 'addictive' features for minors:

The legislation targets feature that encourage compulsive tech use among minors and introduces rigorous safety guidelines for AI interactions.

Platforms are barred from exposing children under 16 to behaviorally addictive design elements, such as infinite scrolling and algorithmic autoplay feeds, which are engineered to maximize user engagement.

'Adam's law' and AI chatbot restrictions:

The bill was dubbed "Adam's Law," in memory of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy who took his own life in April 2025 after, according to his parents-he acted on suicidal thoughts validated in months of discussion with OpenAI's ChatGPT program.

Prompted by high-profile concerns over AI and adolescent mental health, this measure establishes strict safety protocols for companion chatbots.

It mandates crisis intervention features such as protocols for handling suicidal ideation, robust parental controls, mandatory notifications if safety features are disabled, and independent child safety audits.

While gaining broad bipartisan support, some critics objected to the bill as an unnecessary restriction on young people's internet access.

Countries around the world have also moved to curb children's access to harmful internet content, including a ban in Australia on social media for children under 16.

As reported, Utah became the first to adopt laws regulating children’s access to social media, followed by others, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, Florida and New York, though approaches have varied.

Following the social media crakdown, the California's version, known as Assembly Bill 1709, prohibits children under age 16 from exposure to a number of "psychologically exploitative features intended to maximize engagement that foreseeably led to compulsive use."

Those include infinite-scroll feeds, algorithmic autoplay and other features to be defined in future regulations.

Its enactment comes at a time when Big Tech, in the face of mounting legal challenges, has shown greater willingness to accept new restrictions.