Social-media minor-health bill heads for California governor's desk
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A California bill on track toward the governor's desk would require makers of social-media apps to weigh the physical and mental health of minors as they design their products.
The bill was passed Tuesday in the state Assembly after passing the state Senate on Monday. But Gov. Gavin Newsom hasn't indicated whether he will sign or veto the measure.
Social media companies including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Snap (NYSE:SNAP) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) lobbied hard against the bill, saying that differing state laws over their apps would make compliance difficult.
The bill would require such companies to assess products and features likely to be accessed by minors in order to evaluate and mitigate potential harm. And while the assessments would remain private, they would need to be provided to California's attorney general on request.
It also prohibits the companies from doing precise geolocation tracking unless the child is notified, and bans the use of children's personal information in ways deemed to be detrimental to health - and requires the companies to issue privacy policies in language children can understand.
Tech-industry lobbyists pushed unsuccessfully to reduce the applicable age for such measures to 13, and only for those products "directed at" children rather than "likely to be accessed."
If passed into law, the bill's provisions are effective in July 2024.