California Bill Would Let Parents Sue TikTok, Snap for Kids’ Social Media Addictions
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
California parents would be able to sue social media giants like TikTok and Snap for addicting their children to online apps under a new bill proposed by state lawmakers.
The legislation, called the Social Media Platform Duty to Children Act, would hold social media companies accountable even if they did not deliberately make their platforms addictive. The proposed law would leave them open to lawsuits and civil penalties if they “knew or should have known” that their platform is addictive and harmful to children, according to the bill.
The legislation is the latest political effort to reign in big tech and address concerns that social media is damaging to children. Federal lawmakers in Washington have grilled tech executives about child safety, while state attorneys general are investigating social media giants over how their design, operations and promotional features could be bad for kids.
The bipartisan California bill comes from Assemblymembers Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo, and Buffy Wicks, a Democrat who represents Oakland. In introducing the bill, the lawmakers singled out Meta, the social media behemoth formerly known as Facebook. They noted how leaked data from the company showed that teen girls, in particular, reported negative experiences after using Instagram—including some who said it made their suicidal thoughts or eating disorders worse.
“It’s time we treat the dangers of youth social media addiction with the level of seriousness it warrants,” Cunningham said in a statement.
If it becomes law, the measure would apply to companies earning more than $100 million in annual revenue, potentially putting the likes of Culver City-based TikTok and Santa Monica-based Snap in legal crosshairs. TikTok, which has more than 1 billion monthly active users, is already facing an investigation from state attorneys general over whether its platform harms children.
A TikTok spokesperson said the company is still reviewing the bill. They noted that the social media platform deploys protective features that block nighttime push notifications for younger users and allow parents to manage their kids’ screen time.
Representatives for Snap did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The bill, which will get a hearing before the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee this spring, is backed by the advocacy group Common Sense Media and the University of San Diego School of Law’s Children’s Advocacy Institute.
"We shouldn’t have to put in law that some of the most profitable corporations in the world have a duty to be kind to children [and] have a duty not to make addicts of children,” Children’s Advocacy Institute senior counsel Ed Howard said in a statement. “But here we are—we have to.”
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Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
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