California Protecting Our Kids From Social Media Addiction Act - SB-976

Summary

The bill requires that internet-based platforms (i.e., social media) that are accessible to children in the state of California comply with ‘anti-addiction’ regulations. These regulations are only for minors (unless explicitly opted out by the parent), and include:

1. Prohibiting access to “addictive feeds” (e.g., feeds using curation algorithms and auto-scroll);
2. Prohibiting the use of push notifications between 12 am to 6 am and 8 am to 3 pm from Monday through Friday from September through May;
3. Providing a mechanism for parents and/or guardians to set privacy settings for the minor’s social media account.

These platforms have the option to not provide their services to minors at all but may not provide a lower-quality product to minors. The bill also does not require parents to have special access to or control over their children’s data or accounts. This bill will go into effect July 1, 2024, but gives platforms until January 1, 2027, to verify users' ages and/or obtain parental consent pending regulations adopted by the California State Attorney General.

Updates

February 14, 2024. Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

April 24, 2024. Passes Committee by vote of 9 to 0, amended and referred to Senate Appropriations Committee

May 16, 2024. Passes Committee by vote of 5 to 2, ordered to third reading

May 20, 2024. Passes third reading by vote of 35 to 2, referred to Assembly

June 3, 2024. Read by Assembly and referred to the Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection

July 3, 2024. Amended and passed Committee by vote of 7 to 0, re-referred to Appropriations Committee.

August 15, 2024. Passes Appropriations Committee by vote of 11 to 0, ordered to Assembly

August 31, 2024. Passes Assembly by vote of 47 to 4, ordered to Senate

August 31, 2024. Passes Senate by vote of 28 to 2

September 20, 2024. Approved by the Governor.