California governor signs over a dozen bills regulating social media, AI

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers worked on bills this session that focused on safeguarding new technology.SAUSALITO, Calif. (CN) — Maria Raine, who said her teenage son killed himself after receiving instructions from a chatbot, stood nearby Governor Gavin Newsom Thursday as he signed Adam’s Law.The California governor signed 13 bills in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, each one touching on an aspect of social media platforms and artificial intelligence, and their underlying technology.Senate Bill 1119 — written by state Senator Steve Padilla, a San Diego Democrat — is called Adam’s Law. It imposes regulations and obligations on chatbot operators. They must determine a chatbot user’s age, have safeguards like usage reminders and disclosures, and default settings that only a parent can change.One setting disabled by default is “persistent conversational memory.” Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, an Orinda Democrat, said that phrase might seem esoteric. But Adam Raine could still be alive if the chatbot hadn’t remembered everything he told it.“We will protect them,” Bauer-Kahan said of children, adding: “When they turn to AI, it will be safe by design.”Adam Raine needed help with math and turned to a chatbot, which became a confidant. By April 2024, it was helping him plan a “beautiful suicide,” his mother said in a San Francisco Superior Court lawsuit. He was 16 years old.“I miss our talks in the car,” Maria Raine said. “Adam was working on getting his driver’s license.”Lawmakers who wrote the bills signed Thursday pointed to the bipartisan desire to protect children as the impetus for the legislation.Assemblymember Josh Hoover, a Folsom Republican, wrote Assembly Bill 2071. It requires the state Education Department to create a plan by January 2028 for the expansion of digital wellness instruction in California schools.Also signed Thursday was Assembly Bill 1709, which unanimously passed its final legislative hurdle on Aug. 31, the final day of this year’s session. It prohibits certain social media platforms from using addictive features on users under 16. It also creates an e-Safety Advisory Commission to advise the state attorney general on online safety issues.“This is a time of tech anxiety,” said Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat and author of the bill. “We’re not going to wait for Washington.”The lawmakers noted they are parents first and legislators second. Bauer-Kahan stood by Maria Raine during an April press conference about Adam’s Law. On Thursday, she said tech companies have created machines designed to strip children of their imagination, substituting it with a social media feed that addicts and then harms them.Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and chair of her chamber’s Appropriations Committee, said her role as a mother motivates her legislative work.She attends Girl Scouts and sporting events, and other parents ask each other: What are your social media policies for your kids? People stand before committees Wicks sits on, pleading with lawmakers to implement change.“We shouldn’t have to have parents come to us and beg,” Wicks said. “It doesn’t matter that we are Democrats or Republicans. We are parents.”Stepping up to a lectern at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Newsom noted the choice of where he signed the bills — a physical place of learning, not a virtual one.Newsom took a few verbal jabs at President Donald Trump, questioning why the president and Congress haven’t addressed the harms posed by this technology. He noted that California is leading on the issue and will continue to pass legislation addressing social media use by children.“This is all personal,” Newsom said. “None of this is academic.”If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). VisitSpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources* for a list of additional resources.*Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads