Meta, TikTok and Google sue to block California teen social media law championed by Newsom

Meta, Google and TikTok are challenging a landmark California children’s online safety law in court.

The three companies filed suit Wednesday evening in federal court. difficult age limits on what state law calls “addictive” social media feeds. The law, AB 1709, was signed by the governor. Gavin Newsom in September and restricts access to features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay for users under 16.

The proceedings target one of the by Newsom landmark policy accomplishments in his senior year, ahead of a likely 2028 presidential bid. When he signed AB 1709, he framed it as a high-profile effort to protect children from addiction and the harmful effects increasingly associated with heavy social media use, which advocates, politicians and juries have attributed to the platforms’ engagement-maximizing features.

Meta was the first to continue in the coordinated attack, claiming in part that the law violates the First Amendment by stifling the company’s ability to curate and curate content. The arguments are largely based on a Supreme Court 2024 case dictating that online platforms have the constitutional right to design algorithms that moderate and rank posts. Meta also claimed that it made expressive and protected editorial decisions when designing features like personalized feeds, something AB 1709 would have hindered. The cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.