Google, Meta and TikTok sue California to block child social media law

On Wednesday, Google, Meta and TikTok filed three separate lawsuits in a coordinated effort in federal courts across California to stop Assembly Bill 1709 before enforcement begins.

Alphabet, Google’s parent, filed in San Jose on Wednesday; Meta filed in San Francisco; and TikTok filed in Los Angeles. Google, which owns YouTube, is part of Alphabet; Meta owns Facebook and Instagram; and TikTok belongs to China’s ByteDance.

Under Assembly Bill 1709, platforms may not offer children features the law defines as psychologically exploitative, such as personalized recommendation feeds and autoplay videos. The measure further prohibits endless scrolling and personalized feeds for users under 16, and it requires platforms to delete their accounts and personal information. One source says the law covers children 15 and younger, while two others say it covers users under 16, and all three describe the measure as limiting compulsive platform use.

In September, Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1709, though one source dates the signing to Sept. 10. Newsom said California would not stand by while unregulated technology puts children in danger.

The law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027. Before it takes effect, a judge may block the law or cancel it.

The companies say the law violates First Amendment free speech rights because California wants to dictate how platforms present content. They also say the measure conflicts with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the provision that protects platforms from liability for user content.

The platforms say families, not the state, should decide what is right for them. Meta says the state cannot override its editorial judgments about how it curates and displays billions of posts, and its lawsuit also says children can spend unlimited time on rival platforms that offer similar services.

TikTok says protected speech “cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable.” TikTok’s filing also cites methods “which bookstores, TV networks and streaming services all use,” and Google’s lawsuit says losing personalization would keep users under 16 from videos matched to their interests and hide other content.

Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, is the sole defendant in each lawsuit. The attorney general is reviewing the lawsuits and is “committed to defending California’s commonsense laws to protect kids online.” One source dates the response to Thursday.

Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, said on Thursday that parents, not the government, should decide what is right for their families. He said laws that are too broad damage the systems Google created so children can find videos suited to their age. Google said it offers protections and tools that put parents in charge.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the law a major crisis for privacy and free speech. Across the U.S., many states set rules for children’s access to social media, while Australia prohibits social media for children under 16.

In August, Meta settled with nearly all U.S. states, agreeing to pay up to $18 billion and to limit teenagers’ use of Facebook and Instagram; the states had accused the company of violations of privacy and consumer protection law. One source calls it a settlement that ended a trial over teen addiction and involved claims from nearly every state.

One source reports that TikTok paid Alabama at least $100 million in September over addictive features. In August, a judge turned down a preliminary injunction that TikTok, Meta, YouTube and Google had sought to block enforcement of a California social media safety law.

Meta rolled out parental-oversight tools for teenagers after whistleblowers revealed the company knew its platforms harmed teenagers, and it touted those tools through influencers as an option instead of bans or restrictions like Australia’s. Thousands of legal actions target Google, Meta and Snap. Users brought some, as did school districts, local governments and state bodies. The plaintiffs say the companies worked to addict children and caused anxiety, depression and suicide.

On Thursday, California parents sued Google over a teenage daughter’s use of AI mode, an artificial intelligence feature in Google Search, saying she planned to take her own life after using that feature on a school-issued Chromebook. Google also reversed a plan to cut off Google Search for a school or classroom; that cutoff would have applied only if teachers or administrators turned on Google’s other AI features.