Google, Meta and TikTok sue California over law designed to protect children from social media harms

Google, Meta and TikTok filed separate lawsuits seeking to block a California law designed to protect children from the risks of social media, arguing that it violates their First Amendment rights.

The law, which is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, prohibits tech companies from offering addictive feeds, endless scrolling and autoplayed videos to kids under 16. They must also implement “reasonable measures” to make sure those under 16 are not given access to the addictive features by verifying users' ages. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law in September.

The companies each filed their lawsuits in federal courts in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose, California. In addition to the First Amendment, TikTok, Meta and Google argue that the law violates Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which shields tech companies from liability for material posted on their sites by third parties.

The lawsuits come as tech companies face increasing scrutiny over their platforms' harms to children, including thousands of lawsuits by schools, governments and individual plaintiffs.

In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state. The settlement resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention. In September, TikTok settled with Alabama over addictive features.

The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the defendant in each of the lawsuits, said Thursday it was reviewing the filings and that it was committed to defending state laws to protect kids online.

TikTok called the law “a blatantly unconstitutional restriction on free expression that erodes the long-standing and protected practice of curating content based on user preferences, which bookstores, TV networks and streaming services all use.”

The company said it has implemented numerous safety measures for kids on its platform, adding that beyond “disregarding real progress in making teens safer online, this law limits free speech and takes away parents’ rights to determine what’s appropriate for their kids.”

Meta said the law violates the First Amendment “by letting the government dictate how ideas are organized, displayed, or shared with Californians.”

“Under the law, we would be forced to either remove features that keep teens’ experiences age-appropriate, or cut thousands of California teens off from family, friends, and their communities,” the company said in a statement.

Google said it believes parents are in the best position to make decisions for their families and that it offers a range of parental control tools and protections.

“Overly broad laws like this actually break the systems we’ve built to help kids find high-quality, age-appropriate videos,” said spokesman José Castañeda.

—

Associated Press Writer Sophie Austin contributed to this story from Sacramento.