Tech giants Google, Meta Platforms and TikTok have launched legal action against California to block the enforcement of a new state law designed to curb social media addiction in children under 16.

The legislation, titled Assembly Bill 1709, bars platforms from exposing minors to “psychologically exploitative features” that trigger compulsive usage, including algorithmic recommendations and autoplaying video functions. It further mandates the removal of young users’ accounts that incorporate such tools.

In distinct lawsuits submitted on Wednesday, the companies claimed the statute unfairly compels them to follow California’s favoured method of displaying content to children, overriding parental control.

The platforms asserted that the law infringes upon First Amendment free speech guarantees within the US Constitution, as well as Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which provides broad legal protection to websites regarding user-submitted content.

Responding on Thursday, the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the sole defendant tasked with enforcing state legislation. said it was reviewing the legal challenges.

“Our office is committed to defending California’s commonsense laws to protect kids online,” the office stated. Google is an Alphabet subsidiary that owns YouTube, Meta operates Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok belongs to Chinese firm ByteDance.

What the companies say

Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law on September 10, saying children’s safety ‌should be central to any discussion about technology, and California “will not stand by while unregulated technology puts our children at risk.”

The law takes effect on January 1, 2027, unless a judge voids it or puts it on hold. “Parents are best positioned to make the right decisions for their families,” Google ⁠spokesperson Jose Castaneda said on Thursday.

“Overly broad laws like this actually break the systems we’ve built to help kids find high-quality, age-appropriate videos.”

In its lawsuit, Meta said California cannot override its editorial judgments about how to curate and display billions of posts, while leaving children free to spend unlimited time on other online platforms that offer similar services. TikTok, meanwhile, said protected speech “cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable.”

Other critics also accused California of overreaching. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group, called the law “a massive privacy and free speech nightmare.”

Thousands of lawsuits allege addiction

Many US states regulate children’s access to social media. Countries around the ​world have similar restrictions, including a ban in Australia on social media for children under 16.

In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and limit teenagers’ use of Facebook and Instagram under agreements with nearly all US states, which accused it of violating privacy and consumer protection laws. Google filed its lawsuit in federal court in San Jose, California. Meta sued in San Francisco, and TikTok sued in ‌Los Angeles.

The companies and Snapchat parent Snap ​still face thousands of lawsuits by individuals, school districts, municipalities and ‌other government entities claiming they sought to addict children ​and caused a mental health crisis that resulted in such harms as anxiety, depression and suicide.