The California Assembly passed a measure on Monday, allowing parents to sue social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Tiktok for up to $25,000 in damages if their child becomes addicted to the platforms.
“The era of unfettered social experimentation on children is over, and we will protect kids,” said Republican Assemblyman and author of the bill Jordan Cunningham.
California bill would allow parents to sue social media platforms for kids' addictions https://t.co/LHHUMMrWpZ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 24, 2022
According to the bill, “addiction” is defined as those under 18 who are harmed physically, mentally, emotionally, developmentally or materially, and who wish to stop or cut down on their social media usage but are unable to because they are preoccupied or obsessed with the platforms.
Following approval, the legislation now moves into the state Senate for weeks of hearings and negotiations among lawmakers and advocates.
If approved, the bill will head to California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign into law, effective on January 1.
The bill would not hold social media companies liable if they remove damaging features by April 1, or conduct regular audits of their practices to identify and remove practices deemed addictive.
The legislation would only apply to social media companies that made $100 million or more in gross revenue in the past year such as social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
The bill would not affect streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max and companies that only offer email and text messaging services.
Democratic Assemblyman Ken Cooley said as a lawyer he normally opposes bills that create more opportunities for lawsuits but explained that lawmakers must “change the dynamics of what is surrounding us, surrounding our kids.”
“We have to do something,” Cooley said. “If it doesn’t turn out right we can modify as we go along.
As expected, the proposal is facing pushback from business groups, with TechNet arguing that the social media platforms “would have no choice but to cease operations for kids under 18 and would implement stringent age-verification in order to ensure that adolescents did not use their sites.”
“There is no social media company let alone any business that could tolerate that legal risk,” the bipartisan network wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
