California Governor Signs Laws Protecting Kids From Risks of Social Media, AI Chatbots (apnews.com)
(Friday September 11, 2026 @11:00AM (BeauHD)
from the safety-first dept.)
- Reference: 0185599152
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/11/0615224/california-governor-signs-laws-protecting-kids-from-risks-of-social-media-ai-chatbots
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/california-social-media-safety-kids-online-harms-6063026d1b54a8537d639605c23aab80
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press:
> California Gov. Gavin Newsom [1]signed a sweeping package of laws Thursday [2]aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots . The laws will penalize large social media companies up to $1 million per child if they are found negligent of harming children through their platforms, ban tech businesses from offering addictive feeds to anyone under 16, require operators of AI chatbots to perform risk assessments before rolling them out and allow families to opt out of receiving school-issued laptops.
>
> Newsom joined his wife and state lawmakers at a children's museum near San Francisco to stress the importance of protecting kids at a time when they have such easy access to social media and AI chatbots. "We have designed cribs to be safe, chairs to be safe, car seats," Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said. "Yet we've allowed technology to be handed to our children and never asked or expected it to be safe." [...]
>
> Newsom also [3]signed laws Wednesday, which are supported by Anthropic, that are aimed at improving oversight of AI companies. One of the measures requires the state to create rules for independent organizations to evaluate the safety risks of AI models, and the other requires the state to create a registry of AI auditors, who'd have to be financially independent from the businesses they are auditing.
[1] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/10/governor-newsom-signs-the-strongest-child-safety-chatbot-and-social-media-laws-in-the-nation/
[2] https://apnews.com/article/california-social-media-safety-kids-online-harms-6063026d1b54a8537d639605c23aab80
[3] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/09/governor-newsom-signs-first-in-the-nation-ai-safeguards-to-protect-californians-calls-on-the-federal-government-to-do-its-part/
> California Gov. Gavin Newsom [1]signed a sweeping package of laws Thursday [2]aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots . The laws will penalize large social media companies up to $1 million per child if they are found negligent of harming children through their platforms, ban tech businesses from offering addictive feeds to anyone under 16, require operators of AI chatbots to perform risk assessments before rolling them out and allow families to opt out of receiving school-issued laptops.
>
> Newsom joined his wife and state lawmakers at a children's museum near San Francisco to stress the importance of protecting kids at a time when they have such easy access to social media and AI chatbots. "We have designed cribs to be safe, chairs to be safe, car seats," Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said. "Yet we've allowed technology to be handed to our children and never asked or expected it to be safe." [...]
>
> Newsom also [3]signed laws Wednesday, which are supported by Anthropic, that are aimed at improving oversight of AI companies. One of the measures requires the state to create rules for independent organizations to evaluate the safety risks of AI models, and the other requires the state to create a registry of AI auditors, who'd have to be financially independent from the businesses they are auditing.
[1] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/10/governor-newsom-signs-the-strongest-child-safety-chatbot-and-social-media-laws-in-the-nation/
[2] https://apnews.com/article/california-social-media-safety-kids-online-harms-6063026d1b54a8537d639605c23aab80
[3] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/09/governor-newsom-signs-first-in-the-nation-ai-safeguards-to-protect-californians-calls-on-the-federal-government-to-do-its-part/
Can I be included? (Score:2)
by gurps_npc ( 621217 )
That is, can I demand they stop the addictive algorithms used to attract my attention?
And does that AI chatbots include AI agents? Because I would like to forbid them from hacking my accounts?
Protect Internet from Government Stupidity (Score:1)
The PIGS Act would be more appropriate. Studies show the Internet, access to it, and social media in particular, have no negative impact on teens. To the country, access to material on natural parts of life, growing up in society, and seeking information, acceptance, and methods of handling "teenhood" is improved.
No, the people who need to stay away from social media are lying grifting criminal rapists and their constant barrage of lies and threats. Some have created (or bought) their own social medium b