State law to restrict social media for children

Camryn Muuss
Staff Writer

In a recent informal survey on campus, 16 out of 20 students said they were pleased to hear about a new state law designed to protect minors from the proven harms of social media overuse. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1709 into law this month. The new law authored by Assembly Member Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, makes California the first state to prohibit social media platforms from providing users under 16 certain addictive features, including autoplay and algorithmic feeds based on user history and profiles.

Most of the La Verne students interviewed said they thought it would probably be a net positive, though some said they were not sure how effective the new law would be, given that it’s so easy to lie about your age on social media now. 

“I think that’s super important,” Maya DeGuzman, junior kinesiology major said. “I feel like when I was younger, I was very easily influenced by social media and what my friends are into and all of that.” 

“I think it would give children and teenagers more of an incentive to stay off of social media if it isn’t constantly feeding them videos,” Sharon Lance, senior criminology major, added. 

Some La Verne students raised the question of how social media platforms will accurately verify kids’ ages. 

The new law targets personalized features designed to maximize user engagement.

While it does not ban minors under 16 from accessing social media, it restricts their access to these features and creates an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the California Attorney General’s office to advise on implementation and enforcement.

According to a Mayo Clinic report titled “Teens and social media use: What’s the impact?” published in 2025, social media can help teens connect with friends, express themselves and find their communities. However, it can also contribute to lack of sleep, online bullying and unrealistic comparisons with exposure to some harmful content, the report found.

The Mayo Clinic report cited a study that found spending three or more hours a day on social media was linked to a higher risk of mental health concerns. The report also cited a study of more than 12,000 teens in England, which found that using social media more than three times a day lead to poor mental health and overall well-being.

“I think it should be monitored more than it is, and really legitimately versus how it is now,” said Lance Craig, founder of Engage 365 Media Company, a marketing firm.

Craig said children can encounter violent and political content on social media, which is not age appropriate. He also questioned how platforms could verify users’ ages without collecting sensitive information about teenagers. 

Most teens and young adults in the U.S. have grown up with social media as an integral part of their daily lives.

“Since I worked in social media from such a young age and being in a content house growing up, I don’t think it would be good because it would cut my audience in half if we had these restrictions,” said 2026 La Verne alumna and content creator Lexi Giaccobe. “But we had managers, and our parents were monitoring our social media, so they looked over everything we posted and viewed.”  

California’s law follows other countries that have set age restrictions for social media platforms. 

Australia has implemented a minimum age of 16 for all social media accounts, while many other governments have also considered different restrictions for their younger users.  

The state’s approach to this law focuses on specific social media features rather than completely preventing every teenager under the age of 16 from accessing the platforms. 

Social media platforms will now have to adjust certain features and whether or not children under the age of 16 are able to access them, while the state begins to implement the new requirements. 

Camryn Muuss can be reached at camryn.muuss@laverne.edu.