Statement on California Senate Judiciary Passage of AB 1709 to Protect Children Under 16 from Addictive Social Media
SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2026—Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer issued the following statement after the California Senate Judiciary Committee passed AB 1709 (Lowenthal), which bars children under 16 from holding accounts on social media platforms that use addictive feeds:
"AB 1709 cleared another major hurdle today, and California moves one step closer to doing what governments from the EU to Australia are already doing: protecting children from products designed to addict them.
"This bill goes after the design, not the speech. It bars children under 16 from accounts on platforms engineered with addictive feeds and autoplay that have proven to be harmful. Kids can still find information and resources online. What changes is that a platform can no longer hand a child the digital equivalent of a pack of cigarettes.
"The industry has had every chance to fix this on its own. For more than a decade, these companies have studied how children's brains work, when kids are most vulnerable, and how to keep them coming back. They built products with that knowledge, and they made billions. Then they spent more lobbying to keep anyone from holding them accountable. Self-regulation has failed and now California must step up.
"Common Sense Media is grateful to Assemblymember Lowenthal for his leadership and to the Senate Judiciary Committee for advancing this bill. We urge the Senate to keep this momentum and send AB 1709 to the governor's desk. California's kids cannot wait."
About Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the research-backed information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the age of apps, algorithms, and AI. We rate, educate, and advocate to protect and prepare kids online. Our ratings, research, and resources reach more than 150 million users globally, over 1.4 million educators, and more than 100,000 schools worldwide every year. Learn more at commonsense.org.