Google, Meta and TikTok filed separate lawsuits on Wednesday against the state of California to block a law that bars social media platforms from offering features deemed “addictive” to users under 16, Infobae reported, citing Reuters. The three companies are asking federal courts to stop Assembly Bill 1709, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed on September 10 and which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027, unless a judge strikes it down or suspends it first.
The law prohibits platforms from giving minors under 16 personalized content recommendations, autoplay videos and infinite scroll, and it requires platforms to verify users’ ages, EFE reported, citing the Los Angeles Times. The companies filed in different districts: Google in federal court in San Jose, Meta in San Francisco and TikTok in Los Angeles, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta named as the defendant in all three cases, Infobae reported.
Meta, TikTok, Google sue California over child online safety restrictions • Meta, TikTok and Google filed separate lawsuits against California over a new law seeking to tighten restrictions on child social media usage… https://t.co/3H0SsifVi1
What AB 1709 Bans for Users Under 16
The legislation, signed by Newsom on September 10, targets design features that regulators say can encourage compulsive use among minors: personalized recommendation systems, autoplay that plays videos back-to-back, and infinite scroll, expoknews.com reported. It also creates a state e-safety commission to monitor compliance and requires platforms to verify the age of their users, EFE reported.
Why the Companies Say the Law Is Unconstitutional
The platforms argue that the law violates their free-speech rights under the First Amendment and conflicts with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the federal provision that shields online platforms from liability for content posted by their users, expoknews.com reported. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, contends that the First Amendment protects its editorial decisions about how to organize and present billions of third-party posts, expoknews.com reported.
Meta, Google, and TikTok sued California on Wednesday in an attempt to block Assembly Bill 1709, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 10, which prohibits social media platforms from offering so-called "addictive features" to users under the age of 16. pic.twitter.com/HFiDU50qXI
The companies also say California is replacing parents’ judgment with the government’s. “Parents are best able to decide for their families,” Google spokesman José Castañeda said, adding that laws this broad “break the systems” designed to help children find age-appropriate videos, Infobae reported. Google’s lawsuit argues that YouTube’s autoplay “works the way television always has” and is already turned off for users under 18, Infobae reported.
TikTok, a subsidiary of China’s ByteDance, argued that protected speech “cannot be suppressed” merely to shield young people from ideas or images a legislator finds inappropriate, Infobae reported.
Not all critics are companies. The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the law a “massive nightmare for privacy and free speech,” warning it could open the door to disproportionate restrictions on internet access, expoknews.com reported. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, by contrast, noted that a district court rejected the same First Amendment argument in August, ruling that addictive feed design is not speech protected by the First Amendment, Infobae reported.
The Litigation Already Facing the Platforms
The California fight comes as the companies face thousands of lawsuits from families, school districts and governments accusing them of designing addictive products that harmed minors’ mental health, expoknews.com reported.
Courts have already ruled against them. In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for designing Instagram and YouTube features that encouraged compulsive use by young people, ordering them to pay $6 million to Kaley G.M., a young woman who said the platforms contributed to her mental-health problems, EFE reported. A New Mexico jury fined Meta $375 million for misleading consumers about platform safety, and a judge added $567 million for youth mental-health harms, bringing that penalty to $942 million; a separate ruling last month ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for consumer-protection violations in New Mexico, a decision Meta said it would appeal, EFE reported.
Where the Case Stands Now
Bonta’s office said Thursday that it is reviewing the lawsuits and remains “committed to defending California’s common-sense laws to protect children online,” Infobae reported. The law takes effect January 1, 2027, unless a court blocks it before then, Infobae reported.
Tech companies Google, Meta and TikTok are suing California in a bid to block a new state law designed to protect kids from certain "addictive" features of social media that can keep them online for hours, according to court papers obtained today https://t.co/Opf6u7TmJD
Questions Readers Are Asking About California’s Social Media Law
When does AB 1709 take effect? The law is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2027, unless a judge annuls or suspends it first, Infobae reported.
Which companies sued, and where? Google filed in federal court in San Jose, Meta in San Francisco and TikTok in Los Angeles; California Attorney General Rob Bonta is the defendant in all three cases, Infobae reported.
Has a court ever accepted the companies’ free-speech argument? Not in this fight so far: the Electronic Privacy Information Center said a district court rejected the claim in August that addictive feed design is protected speech, Infobae reported.
More on Meta
Meta, Google and TikTok Sue California Over Teen Social Media Law Meta, Google and TikTok have filed a lawsuit challenging a new California law aimed at imposing stricter protections for teenagers using social media platforms. According to TechCrunch, the companies are suing… pic.twitter.com/gGcr0CzDtR
Google, Meta and TikTok filed separate federal suits Nov 5 to block California AB 1709 — the under-16 addictive-feeds law effective Jan 1, 2027. All three cite the First Amendment and Section 230. #compliance #GRC https://t.co/qNxaAp8qI9
BREAKING: Meta, TikTok and Google sue California to block new law limiting feeds for under 16 kids
- Politecnico di Milano’s non-flammable membrane enables fluoride-ion battery cells to cycle 50+ times at room temperature
- UNIM Researchers Test ChatGPT’s Role in Engineering Physics Learning—But Fast Answers May Be Unreliable
- RTÉ and media groups evacuated after bomb threat in Dublin (archyworldys.com)