Attorney General Bonta’s Sponsored Bill to Protect Children from Harm by Big Tech Signed into Law

 Bill adds warning labels to social media platforms

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) today issued the following statements in response to Governor Gavin Newsom signing into law Assembly Bill 56 (AB 56), legislation that aims to protect children and teens from risks posed by social media.

“People across the nation — including myself — have become increasingly concerned with Big Tech’s failure to protect children who interact with its products. Today, California makes clear that we will not sit and wait for companies to decide to prioritize children’s well-being over their profits,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “By adding warning labels to social media platforms, AB 56 gives California a new tool to protect our children. I thank Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan for introducing this legislation and look forward to continuing the vital work of ensuring social media platform use does not harm our kids.” 

"While I'm grateful Governor Newsom signed AB 56, our work isn't finished. California's children deserve both transparency about social media's harms and accountability when platforms cause damage," said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. "I'll continue working with Attorney General Bonta and my colleagues to ensure comprehensive protections become law. Our children's mental health crisis demands nothing less."

AB 56 requires social media companies to periodically display a warning label on their platforms when used by children and teens. The warning label advises that social media is associated with significant mental health harms and has not been proven safe for young users.  It must be clearly displayed upon the user’s initial access of the platform in a given day, again after the user has reached three hours of cumulative active use that day, and thereafter at least once per hour of active use.  

Last year, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require a surgeon general’s warning on social media platforms. Attorney General Bonta, joined by a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorneys general, supported this proposal and argued that mandating a surgeon general’s warning on algorithm-driven social media platforms could help address the growing youth mental health crisis and protect future generations of Americans. 

A growing body of research links young people’s use of social media platforms to a variety of serious harms, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. Social media companies are aware of this, yet do not share this information with consumers. California’s own ongoing lawsuits against Meta and TikTok claim that the social media giants intentionally design their platforms to addict young people to their mental and physical detriment for the sake of profits.