Parents in the Golden State may soon have a new option when it comes to combating social media addiction in their children: straight-up suing popular platforms like TikTok.
BREAKING: California lawmakers in the Assembly approve AB2408, which would allow social media companies to be held legally liable for harms stemming from online addiction in kids.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) May 23, 2022
Vote was 45-0, now heads to Senate. pic.twitter.com/HgBYm4reDp
The California State Assembly passed the bill this past Monday, handing it up to the California State Senate for final approval. It was drafted by Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, a Republican based in San Luis Obispo County.
“To Big Tech: the era of unfettered social experimentation on children is over, and we will protect kids,” Cunningham said of the bill.
QOTD: pic.twitter.com/aa6SXBgWGA
— Jordan Cunningham (@Cunning_Jordan) May 24, 2022
As far as defining social media addiction, the bill reads that it applies to any person under 18 who is harmed emotionally, developmentally, materially, mentally or physically by a platform’s grip on them.
If passed by the California Senate, the measure would open the door for parents to sue social media companies for up to $25,000 per violation.
Notably, the proposal appeared to take direct aim at tech giants like Facebook (which owns Instagram) and TikTok, as it only applies to social media companies that had at least $100M in yearly gross revenue.
It’s also worth adding that it wouldn’t apply to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Companies that exclusively offer email or texting services will also be unaffected.
Should the bill be passed into law, it would take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. However, if social media companies ultimately remove features that’re deemed addictive by April 1, they won’t be liable for damages. Companies that regularly audit their practices and remove potentially addictive features would also be immune from facing lawsuits.
Even so, business groups like TechNet have spoken out against the bill.
“Social media companies and online web services 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,” the group wrote. “There is no social media company let alone any business that could tolerate that legal risk.”
The bill will now undergo a lengthy hearing and negotiation process within the California Senate, and there are no further updates at this time.
