California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Thursday aimed at protecting children under 16 from the potential harms of social media and artificial intelligence. The new laws are designed to restrict the use of addictive features on social media platforms for minors and impose stricter safety measures on AI chatbots.
The legislation prohibits social media companies from providing addictive features to children under 16, including autoplay, infinite scroll, and algorithmically recommended content feeds. The laws also expand the definition of child sexual exploitation to cover any AI-generated or digitally altered content depicting children under 18 in explicit acts.
Regarding AI, the measures include crisis guidelines for chatbots regarding suicidal tendencies and parental controls. Additionally, the laws include a four-year ban on the sale of AI chatbot-powered toys for children.
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) and YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the new legislation.
