Meta, Google and TikTok have each gone to federal court to stop a California law that would bar social media platforms from serving personalized feeds and autoplay video to users younger than 16. The law, Assembly Bill 1709, is scheduled to take effect in January.
The three companies filed separate suits this week naming Attorney General Rob Bonta, the official who would enforce the law. Meta's complaint, filed Nov. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, asks for a declaration that the law is unconstitutional and an order blocking it.
What the law requires
AB 1709, written by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September as part of a package of more than a dozen online safety bills. It targets design features the law treats as addictive, including infinite scrolling, algorithmic autoplay and personalized recommendations. The attorney general can define additional features through regulations.
Platforms may keep users under 16 if they turn those features off for them. If they do not, the law requires the accounts to be deleted. TechCrunch reported that violations could bring fines of up to $50,000 per affected user under 16. It passed both houses of the Legislature without a dissenting vote, according to Patch.
What the companies argue
The suits rest mainly on the First Amendment. Meta's complaint says the law would make the state "the editor, curator, and controller of online speech" and argues that how Meta arranges posts in its feeds is protected editorial judgment. Meta also argues that federal law, Section 230, preempts the state rule.
"AB 1709 is a blatantly unconstitutional restriction on free expression," a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement from spokesperson José Castañeda that "parents are best positioned to make the right decisions for their families" and that "overly broad laws like this actually break the systems we've built to help kids find high-quality, age-appropriate videos."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which urged a veto, has said the law would work as a ban on social media for anyone under 16 and would push platforms to collect more personal data to verify ages.
