Three of the biggest rivals in tech walked into federal court this week — separately, on the same question — and sued California. Meta, Google, and TikTok each filed lawsuits against Attorney General Rob Bonta, asking judges to block AB 1709, the state's new law restricting social media features for users under 16, according to TechCrunch.
The law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September and set to take effect January 1, would bar platforms from offering personalized feeds and autoplay videos to under-16s — and requires them to delete those users' accounts if they don't switch the features off. Violations carry fines of up to $50,000 per affected minor.
The companies' argument is the one that has beaten back nearly every state attempt to regulate the feed: the feed is speech. Meta says AB 1709 violates the First Amendment by overriding its editorial decisions about how content is displayed, and that Section 230 preempts the law. In its filing, Meta argued the law "would make it unlawful for Meta to disseminate speech to minors altogether, and would require Meta to delete minors' accounts, unless it changes these practices." TikTok called it "a blatantly unconstitutional restriction on free expression," and Google said parents, not Sacramento, should decide.
But the sharpest opposition isn't from the platforms. The EFF's Rindala Alajaji warned the law would force platforms to collect even more information from every user to verify ages — "invading everyone's privacy" — and called it "a functional ban on social media for youth under 16" that "cuts young people off from essential information and experiences, silencing the very voices it claims to protect."
The timing is awkward for the platforms. Meta just agreed to pay a settlement of up to $18 billion to resolve children's safety claims brought by 29 U.S. states. Australia banned social media for under-16s outright in December 2025; France passed a similar law and its top court struck it down. TikTok is already challenging California's earlier SB 976, which restricts personalized feeds for under-18s, in the Ninth Circuit.
Bonta's office says it is reviewing the filings and is committed to defending "California's commonsense laws to protect kids online." No court has ruled yet. What to watch: whether a judge blocks the law before January 1 — and whether the First Amendment framing holds, after the Supreme Court's NetChoice rulings treated feed curation as editorial speech.
— via TechCrunch