California Enacts Laws Restricting Chatbots and Banning Teens from ‘Addictive’ Social Media

California has enacted a sweeping package of laws aimed at protecting children online, including a first-of-its-kind restriction on "addictive" social media features for users under 16 and new safety mandates for AI chatbots — changes with direct implications for Santa Barbara families, educators, and the local mental health community.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the 13-bill package on September 10, according to a report from the Santa Barbara Independent, which republished coverage from CalMatters. Together, the measures represent the state's most aggressive response yet to mounting concern over how social media and artificial intelligence tools may be harming young people's mental health.

"Parents can't compete. Can't compete with the engineering, can't compete with the algorithms," Newsom said at a press conference announcing the laws. "You feel like you're a lousy parent."

The Addictive Social Media Ban

The most controversial of the new laws requires social media companies to either stop offering "addictive" features — such as infinite scroll and autoplay — to users under 16, or to bar those users from their platforms entirely.

Supporters, including the bill's authors, argue the measure is necessary to address a teenage mental health crisis and to force long-delayed action from technology companies whose business models depend on keeping young users engaged for as long as possible.

But digital rights groups pushed back hard. The Electronic Frontier Foundation urged Newsom to veto the bill, calling it "well-intentioned, but deeply flawed." The organization argued that the definition of "addictive features" is so broad that the law would function as a full ban on social media for kids under 16, cutting young people off from what the group described as "essential information and experiences."

For Santa Barbara parents who have spent years wrestling with screen-time battles at the dinner table, the law represents a shift in responsibility — from households to the platforms themselves.

Chatbot Limits and the Adam Raine Law

The chatbot measure, which drew broader support — including from OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT — is named after Adam Raine, a California teenager who died by suicide in 2025 after receiving tips from ChatGPT. His death was one in a series of incidents that alarmed parents nationwide about how children interact with AI companions.

The law imposes time limits on minors' chatbot use, requires built-in mental health resources, and mandates safety plans. If a chatbot detects a threat of self-harm, its operator must alert parents. Companies like OpenAI could face legal liability for failing to act.

OpenAI said the law "pairs strong protections with continued access to useful AI tools."

"Raising teens at this moment, those of us that are, we know the youth mental health crisis in an everyday reality," said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, one of the bill's authors. "There isn't one of us that hasn't seen it first hand."

The measure builds on existing California chatbot regulations, including requirements that tools notify users they are interacting with AI.

What Else Is in the Package

The remaining bills in the package touch a wide range of online child-safety issues:

• Social media companies can now be held legally liable for damages if their platforms harm a child.
• Age-checking requirements were expanded and revised.
• Companies' responsibilities for acting on child abuse content were broadened.
• A four-year moratorium was placed on AI-powered chatbot toys for kids under 16.
• Businesses that create products "likely to be accessed by children" are barred from collecting children's data as a condition of using their services.

Earlier in the same week, Newsom also signed two bills creating standards for independent auditors of AI tools.

The Meta Backdrop

The legislative push comes on the heels of a landmark settlement between Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — and a coalition of state attorneys general, including California's Rob Bonta.

The states accused Meta of knowingly damaging teens' mental health through addictive features like infinite scrolling, and of continuing to promote those products even after the harm became clear internally. Observers have compared the litigation to the Big Tobacco lawsuits of past decades.

Last month, as the trial began, Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion to settle the case, according to the Independent's report. Some of that money is earmarked to address mental health harms for children, with states deciding how to spend the remainder. The settlement also requires product changes, including limiting "likes" on underage users' accounts and halting notifications during school hours.

What It Means for Santa Barbara

The new laws arrive amid growing local concern about youth mental health and technology use. Concerns extend beyond teens: the Independent's report notes that chatbots have been linked to increasing incidents of so-called "AI psychosis," in which the tools appear to encourage and feed delusional thinking in users of all ages.

For Santa Barbara County schools, the changes could ease pressure on counselors and teachers who have watched smartphones and algorithmic feeds reshape classroom attention spans. And for parents, the laws amount to an acknowledgment — in Newsom's words — that families have been fighting an uneven battle against sophisticated engineering designed to maximize engagement.

Implementation details, enforcement mechanisms, and any legal challenges to the broader social media restrictions remain to be worked out in the months ahead, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation's objections suggest court battles over the under-16 rules are possible. How the balance between protection and access plays out will be watched closely in Sacramento and in households across the 805.

The Santa Barbara Independent republishes stories from CalMatters on state and local issues affecting Santa Barbara County readers. Read the [original coverage](https://www.independent.com/2026/09/10/california-enacts-laws-restricting-chatbots-and-banning-teens-from-addictive-social-media/).