Meta, Google and TikTok Sue California AG to Block Teen Social Media Law

Meta, Google and TikTok have separately sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta, according to TechCrunch, seeking to stop a state law that limits social media features the measure treats as addictive for people younger than 16. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill, AB 1709, in September, and it is due to begin on January 1.

The statute bars platforms from serving autoplay video and tailored feeds to minors under 16. It also obliges companies to remove those users' accounts when the features are not switched off. Platforms that fail to comply could face penalties reaching $50,000 for each affected young user.

Meta argues in its complaint that the law clashes with the First Amendment because it overrides the company's choices about presenting content, and that Section 230 preempts it. The company wrote that its feeds rely on personalized recommendations and automatic playback, so the measure would prevent it from distributing speech to minors at all and would force account deletions unless those practices change. TikTok and Google advanced comparable arguments.

A TikTok spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the law is an unconstitutional limit on expression and undercuts the accepted practice of arranging content around what users prefer, a practice the spokesperson said is used by bookstores, television networks and streaming services.

AB 1709 fits a wider push by lawmakers in multiple countries to reduce teenage social media use and improve mental health outcomes. Digital safety specialists frequently warn that such rules can harm the privacy of every platform user, adults included, since age checks gather additional personal data.

Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the EFF, said during a press briefing that the bill pushes platforms to gather more data on all users, which undermines anonymity and strengthens tech companies' hold rather than shielding people. Alajaji also said young people's social media activity has powered notable digital activism, pointing to the student-led gun safety movement that followed the Parkland shooting and to the worldwide following built by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. Alajaji described the measure as effectively shutting under-16s out of social media and cutting them off from information and experiences.

The companies are ready to contest the California statute while handling comparable cases elsewhere. Australia became the first nation to prohibit social media access for under-16s in December 2025, and France approved a similar measure that its highest court later overturned over free expression concerns. The platforms also contend the law would weaken parents' ability to guide their teenagers' online activity through parental controls.