California Tells Social Media and AI Companies to Stop Treating Children Like Beta Testers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a collection of laws aimed at protecting children from risks linked to social media and artificial-intelligence chatbots. The measures target addictive feeds, weak safety systems and the familiar Silicon Valley strategy of apologizing after the damage has already scaled.

The penalties can become expensive

Large social-media companies could face penalties reaching $1 million per child when negligence contributes to serious harm. Other provisions restrict addictive content feeds for users under 16 and require chatbot operators to assess and address risks.

Families will also gain more authority to reject school-issued laptops in some circumstances. That provision reflects growing concern that mandatory educational technology can collect data, expose children to distractions and leave parents with less control than the device administrator.

Age verification and enforcement remain difficult

Protecting minors online sounds simple until a law must determine who is a child without collecting even more personal information. Technology companies also warn that broad restrictions can affect useful personalization and access.

Those implementation problems are real, but they do not erase the central issue. Products engineered to maximize engagement have been placed in front of developing minds while companies treated predictable harm as an unexpected software bug.

Gen X children were told not to sit too close to the television. Today’s parents need a legal strategy for algorithms that follow a child from the bedroom to school and back again. California’s laws will face scrutiny, but they establish a clear premise: “move fast” is not an acceptable child-safety policy.

YOUR COLUMNIST

Dana Side-Eye

Receipts, Rumors & Internet Nonsense

Dana reads the fine print, checks the timeline, and keeps one eyebrow permanently raised. She covers viral claims, internet pile-ons, and suspiciously convenient explanations.

“Screenshots are forever. So is the side-eye.”