Reining in Big Tech: How California lawmakers plan to regulate AI and social media
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lawmakers → rein → AI
- California lawmakers advance sweeping bills to curb Big Tech’s power, targeting addictive social media, artificial intelligence in the workplace and voracious data centers amid mounting public anxiety over technology’s harms.
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lawmakers → advance → harms
Measures would bar ‘addictive’ features for users under 16, expose platforms to million‑dollar penalties for harming kids, and require human oversight when AI tools discipline or fire workers.
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tools → bar → workers
- The package now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who must weigh voters’ demands for tougher safeguards against Silicon Valley’s warnings that new rules could stifle innovation and raise costs.
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rules → head → costs
Long the epicenter of the global tech industry, California is taking more action to shield its children, communities and workers from the threats posed by the very industry that’s become central to the state’s identity and enviable economy.
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that → take → identity
State lawmakers on Monday passed new safeguards around social media, artificial intelligence and data centers at a time when technology has become intertwined with people’s daily lives.
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technology → pass → lives
Efforts to rein in the power of Big Tech extend beyond concerns that TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms are harming young children.
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TikTok → rein → children
Unions and workers worry that AI will take their jobs, and lawmakers are trying to tackle privacy and safety issues as AI features get added into smart glasses and toys.
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features → worry → glasses
Californians are concerned that the proliferation of data centers will increase their electricity bills and strain water supplies.
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proliferation → concern → supplies
“There’s a heightened level of tech anxiety right now, and that manifests itself from social media to data centers to AI taking jobs,” said Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach).
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Lowenthal → ’ → jobs
“People are coalescing and they’re demanding that policymakers make change.”
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policymakers → coalesce → change
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has previously vetoed some bills aimed at adding restrictions on Silicon Valley businesses, will still have to weigh in on whether to sign the pieces of legislation into law.
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who → veto → law
The Democratic governor has acknowledged the challenge of adopting regulations that protect the public without going too far and potentially stifling the technology industry’s growth, which brings critical revenue to the state budget.
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which → acknowledge → budget
“I think that’s the constant tension,” Newsom said in an interview earlier this summer.
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Newsom → think → interview
“We’re constantly sort of fighting that balance.”
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We → fight → balance
The governor, who has close relationships in the technology industry from his time in San Francisco, said only a couple of other states have attempted to regulate artificial intelligence.
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couple → have → intelligence
California, he said, leads on regulation of social media.
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he → say → media
“We’re not rolling over, certainly,” Newsom said.
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Newsom → roll → ?
“We’re leaning forward, and we’re iterating.
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we → lean → ?
We will push the boundaries and litigate.”
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We → push → boundaries
The looming restrictions on social media follow a landmark Meta Platforms legal settlement aimed at making social media safer for young people.
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media → loom → people
Parents, politicians and child advocacy groups are worried that social media is contributing to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other issues.
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media → worry → depression
The actions being pushed in the California Legislature are more sweeping than that settlement, however.
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actions → push → settlement
One of the bills passed by lawmakers on Monday, Assembly Bill 1709, would bar certain online platforms from providing an “addictive feature” to users under 16 years old and add ways to verify users’ ages.
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One → pass → ages
Under the bill, prohibited addictive features include autoplay and feeds that display recommended content.
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that → prohibit → content
The addictive nature of autoplay and other features is “harmful, full stop, and that they’re not appropriate for the developing brain,” said Lowenthal, who authored the bill.
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who → ’re → bill
Newsom, who chatted with lawmakers at the Capitol on Monday in what will be his last regular legislative session as governor, praised Lowenthal and the bill.
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what → chat → Lowenthal
“I’m really proud of the work that we did together on that.
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we → ’m → that
My legislator of the year is Josh Lowenthal,” Newsom said.
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Newsom → say → year
“California will continue to lead in this area as we must continue to lead in this area.”
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we → continue → area
After watching technology “run free” in California for years, legislators are now seeking to “pump the brakes a little bit,” said Samantha Vigil, a UC Davis researcher who built a registry tracking social media legislation in states across the country.
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who → watch → country
“They want to reevaluate what is working,” Vigil said.
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Vigil → want → ?
“What is healthy and beneficial, and what is progress just for the sake of having a new iteration of something?
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progress → have → something
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All 50 states have introduced or passed some type of digital media or technology-related legislation, tackling smartphone use in schools, social media and chatbots, Vigil said.
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Vigil → introduce → schools
Other countries have taken more stringent steps to limit social media use among young people.
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countries → take → people
Australia banned social media use for those under 16, but enforcing the law has been challenging because young people have tried to get around the restrictions.
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people → ban → restrictions
California isn’t trying to ban social media; instead, it’s trying to limit how platforms design their features.
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platforms → try → features
Parents and state attorneys general have not waited for policymakers to act.
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policymakers → wait → ?
They have sued Meta, Google and other tech companies over the alleged harms their products have done to young people.
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products → sue → people
In late August, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay up to $17 billion and make child-safety changes to resolve a multistate lawsuit alleging the tech company designed and deployed harmful features while misleading the public about them.
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company → own → them
…and 40 more, not listed.
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