The Governor of California signed AB 1709 (Chapter 183, Statutes of 2026) on September 10, 2026, prohibiting social media and similar platforms from providing “addictive features” such as algorithmic feeds and autoplay to California users under 16 years of age. Middle school students and most 9th and 10th graders in the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) fall within that age range. As reported by EdSource on November 6, citing POLITICO, Meta, Google, and TikTok have each filed lawsuits against California seeking to overturn the law.

California AB 1709: What Happened

AB 1709, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, adds a chapter titled Covered Platform Age Restriction to the Business and Professions Code (Sections 22682 through 22686) and creates an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the Department of Justice. The central obligation is a single rule: a covered platform shall not provide an addictive feature to a user under 16 years of age and must implement reasonable measures to ensure that it does not.

California already had the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act. According to the legislative digest of AB 1709, that earlier law allows an operator to provide an addictive feed to a minor after obtaining verifiable parental consent. The AB 1709 provisions for users under 16 do not include a parental consent exception.

As reported by EdSource, the three companies argue in their complaints that the law violates the platforms’ First Amendment rights, and they also cite Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The outcome of the litigation is not yet known, and it is not yet clear whether a court will pause enforcement.

Which Features and Platforms AB 1709 Covers

AB 1709 defines three categories of addictive features:

Category Meaning in the statute
Addictive feed Media posted by other users that is recommended, selected, or prioritized based on information about the user or the user’s device
Autoplay Audio or video that plays the next item automatically
Other features Features that the Attorney General defines by regulation

The following do not count as an addictive feed: direct private messages between users; search terms that are not persistently associated with the account; specific media or a specific creator that the user expressly requested, without autoplay; and the next item in an existing sequence from the same creator, without autoplay.

A covered platform is a website or application that offers an addictive feature as a significant part of its service, including social media platforms. Platforms limited to commercial transactions or consumer reviews, and feeds whose primary purpose is cloud storage, are excluded. The Attorney General may adjust this scope by regulation.

What AB 1709 Means for Irvine Families

Students under 16 will not necessarily lose their accounts. The statute allows a platform to let a user under 16 keep an account as long as the platform provides no addictive feature to that user. A platform that does not take this approach must delete the account and the personal information associated with it. How each platform responds will depend on its own compliance plan and on the litigation.

Enforcement targets platforms, not families. The law can be enforced only through a civil action brought by the Attorney General or a local public prosecutor. A knowing violation carries a civil penalty of up to $50,000 per affected minor, and a negligent violation up to $25,000. In setting a penalty, a court must consider the size of the platform, the severity and duration of the violation, and the platform’s good faith efforts to comply.

Age verification relies on a separate law. Before providing an addictive feature, a platform must verify the user’s age under the Digital Age Assurance Act; if it cannot, it must rely on the age determination made under Section 27001 of the Health and Safety Code.

Digital Age Assurance Act: Devices Ask for Age Starting January 2027

The Digital Age Assurance Act (Chapter 675, Statutes of 2025, AB 1043) becomes operative on January 1, 2027. It requires operating system providers to ask the account holder to enter the birth date or age of the device user at account setup; for a user under 18, the account holder is a parent or legal guardian. The operating system then sends applications only an age bracket signal in four categories: under 13, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, and 18 or older.

For devices set up before January 1, 2027, operating system providers must add an interface for entering age before July 1, 2027. A developer that receives the signal is deemed to have actual knowledge of the user’s age range. A company that violates this law faces a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per affected child for each negligent violation and up to $7,500 for each intentional violation, and only the Attorney General may bring the action.

How AB 1709 Relates to the IUSD Campus Phone Policy

AB 1709 governs the features platforms provide off campus, while IUSD rules govern device use at school, and the two apply in parallel. Board Policy 5131.8, adopted by the IUSD Board of Education on April 21, 2026, directs each principal to set grade-appropriate rules for possessing, using, and securely storing smartphones and smartwatches in class, and one stated purpose of the policy is to support student mental health. For details of the district rules, see California Phone-Free Schools Law: IUSD Policy Explained.

AB 302 (Chapter 181, Statutes of 2026), signed the same day, provides that starting in the 2027-28 school year, school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools may not exclude a student from sports, clubs, or other extracurricular activities because the student does not have or use addictive feeds, and may not use such platforms as the only way to contact students and parents. See Brief: California AB 302 Bars Social Media Mandates.

EDUBUS Recommendations on AB 1709

Enter the student’s actual birth date when setting up a new device. The Digital Age Assurance Act places the source of age information at device account setup, and the parent is the account holder. An accurate age allows platforms to turn off algorithmic feeds and autoplay for users under 16 as AB 1709 requires. For devices bought before January 1, 2027, parents should watch for the prompt that operating systems must provide before July 1, 2027.

Explain the possible changes to the student in advance. Applications the student uses may remove recommended feeds, turn off autoplay, or ask for age verification. EDUBUS advisors suggest that parents treat the law as an opportunity to discuss screen time and set family rules together with the student rather than waiting for platforms to change.

Do not base family rules on the outcome of the lawsuits. The litigation may delay enforcement of the law. School phone rules and family rules are not affected by the lawsuits, and homework and sleep schedules should continue as planned.

Keep records of activities outside social platforms. In light of AB 302, EDUBUS recommends that students keep their own document recording the dates, roles, and results of clubs, competitions, and volunteer work, which makes the activities section of college applications more accurate later. For application planning, see the EDUBUS College Planning service; for course selection and school rules in Irvine public schools, see the Irvine High School Guide.

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