A tech lobby representing major social media providers filed a federal lawsuit to prevent a California law from coming into effect that aims to protect youth from social media addiction, arguing that the measure violates the First Amendment.
The Act, which comes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, “would fundamentally limit the expressive activity of NetChoice members by restricting how and when they can disseminate personalized feeds,” the lawsuit says.
NetChoice claims that the right to provide and view personalized feeds is “fully protected” under the First Amendment.
The complaint alleges that parental consent provisions in the Act violate the First Amendment. SB 976 requires platforms to secure parental consent before allowing children to access personalized content as well as accessing them for over an hour per day.
This “restricts minors’ ability to access protected speech and websites’ ability to engage in protected speech,” the lawsuit says.
Social media platforms are mandated to conduct age verification of users to “reasonably determine” whether they are minors. Such verification would force all individuals, both minors and adults, to hand over personal information.
These requirements “chill speech, in violation of the First Amendment.” Moreover, the Act’s definition of “addictive internet-based service or application is unconstitutionally vague,” the lawsuit says.
Citing these reasons, NetChoice asked the court to enjoin the California Attorney General from enforcing SB 976 as unlawful.
Protecting Children Online
SB 976 requires platforms to set the default setting for minors to prevent them from receiving addictive feeds. Platforms are prohibited from sending notifications during school hours and between midnight and 6:00 a.m. on school days. The social media accounts of minors shall be automatically set as private.Parents cannot override the privacy default setting for their children. They will have control over two aspects of their children’s account—allowing kids to receive notifications during restricted times and permitting them to receive addictive feeds.
After signing the bill into law in September, Newsom said the legislation puts “children’s well-being first.”
“Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children—isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night,” he said.
“With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits.”
Platforms developed for adults are not appropriate for children, with minors requiring a higher level of protection due to their emotional and mental vulnerabilities, the report said.
The APA pointed out that brain development for children begins around 10 to 13 years of age and ends sometime in the mid-20s. During this period, the brain may be hypersensitive to social feedback. As such, children are attracted to things that give them attention and praise.
One of them, COPPA 2.0, expands the age limit of minors protected under the regulation to 16 from 13. It requires social media platforms to obtain consent from 13- to 16-year-old users before collecting their information. Advertising that targets minor users is banned.
The second bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, requires companies to ensure that children cannot access harmful content such as posts about suicide, drugs, and bullying.
