Today’s news release is about banning addictive feeds for minors. The ban is to go into effect as per California’s law SB 976. The law is imposed to limit minors from engaging in content that is harmful to them. Addictive feeds are only available to minors with parental grants.
Prohibition of Serving Addictive Feeds to Minors
In the late Tuesday evening, a federal judge restricted a challenge to California's law, SB 976. According to this law, the companies are prohibited from making "addictive feeds" available to minors.
SP 976 mandates that companies cannot provide addictive feeds to California-based users. The content is given to those only who have clear-cut parental permission and not to minors. The law will come into action on January 1, 2025.
What are Addictive Feeds?
According to California’s law, SB 976, here is a complete definition of addictive feed. The law interprets addictive feed as an algorithm or set of computer problem-solving rules that selects and recommends content for all users.
This selection and recommendation of content depend purely on the user’s behavior. It has nothing to do with the user’s evident content preferences. There is a chance that addictive feeds can harm user’s mental health, as they may get addicted to these feeds.
SB 976 Key Rulings
SB 976 is a law that restricts companies from serving addictive feeds to minors. The law has established some strict rulings for content-generating companies. These rulings are a must-follow:
- Companies cannot serve addictive feeds to minors.
- Parental consent is required for delivering addictive feeds to minors.
- Companies are asked to use "age assurance techniques" like “age estimation models” from January 2027 onward.
- Companies must infer whether a user is a minor and adjust their feed accordingly after using age assurance tools and techniques.
- According to law, there are restrictions on nighttime notifications for minors, although the judge blocked this provision among other elements of the law.
NetChoice's Challenge to SB 976
NetChoice, a tech lobbying group working to make the internet safe for use, challenges California’s law SB 976. In late Tuesday, a federal judge blocked this challenge and allowed the enforcement of the law.
NetChoice and its members Meta, Google, and X sued to abide by California’s law SB 976. In November, NetChoice argued that the law is out of order as it has violated the First Amendment.
Similar Legislation in New York Passed
Before California’s law implementation, New York passed similar legislation in June. This legislation mentions the impact of using social media. There are growing concerns about how minors are grasping social media content in their minds.