What they are saying: National leaders and lawmakers celebrate Governor Newsom’s signature on landmark child safety chatbot and social media laws 

SACRAMENTO –Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed historic bipartisan legislation strengthening California’s nation-leading child safety chatbot and social media laws.

The new landmark laws will create the nation’s strongest companion chatbot regulations in the nation, ban addictive features such as autoplay and algorithmic feeds based on user history and profile. New legislation will also protect kids from targeted advertising and online exploitation and abuse.

Here’s what leaders are saying about the historic legislation to protect kids online:

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton: “I’m glad to see California take steps to protect children from the harms of social media and chatbots. More states should follow their lead.” 

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda): “As a parent first and a lawmaker second, I know we owe our children a safer digital world, and I am deeply grateful for Governor Newsom’s partnership in this fight. For years, tech platforms have prioritized profits over young lives. Adam’s Law fundamentally shifts that balance, delivering vital protections that put California families above corporate bottom lines.” 

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach): “California families are suffering and are in need of relief. AB 1709 and AB 2 are the most impactful social media protections bills in the nation. They not only stop the harm against children, but they are also rooted in prevention. Through the Governor’s leadership, we are creating a model policy that can be cut and pasted throughout the country. And ideally force the federal government to provide oversight.”

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland): “As a parent, I want to be able to trust that the products my kids use are designed with their safety in mind — and every parent deserves that peace of mind. Adam’s Law gives California families stronger protections and makes clear that when it comes to our kids, safety has to come first. I’m so proud to see this become law, and even prouder of what it will mean for kids and families across California.”

Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego): ”We cannot make the same mistakes that were made with social media. California is taking bold action to protect our children and set an example for the rest of the country. I am so grateful to my legislative partners Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan and Wicks for their collaboration, to the Raine Family for their incredible strength and advocacy, and to the Governor for making these protections law. Adam’s Law will save the lives of children here in California and across the country as it becomes a national model.”

Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay): “Ensuring data privacy and protection is vital to our children’s well-being, dignity, and right to learn. No child should be put at risk of big tech taking advantage of their personal data for financial — or any kind of gain. As generative AI and other tech are now mainstays in our classrooms, AB 1159 creates clear, common-sense protections for California’s children and students PK-University. I am grateful to Governor Newsom for including it in his nation-leading protections for kids, and for putting them first.”

Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom): “Protecting kids online is not a partisan issue. As a parent and former school board member, I have seen first-hand the impacts that screens and social media have had on our kids. I was proud to author AB 2071 to ensure our public schools develop a plan to expand digital wellness instruction so our students can learn best practices for using technology in a way that supports their physical health, mental health, and social connections.”

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks): “With the aggressive advances in technology that we are seeing, this can feel like a very scary time. As AI continues to reshape the cybersecurity landscape, it is more important than ever that we prepare the next generation with the skills needed to protect themselves and others. I applaud Governor Newsom for signing AB 2298 to ensure California’s students are equipped with the skills to prevent, detect, and respond to evolving cybersecurity threats.”

Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park): “Protecting our children in this digital age is more important than ever. As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, our laws must keep up to ensure predators cannot use new tools and platforms to harm our children. Fighting human trafficking and exploitation has long been at the heart of my work, and the End Child Exploitation Act builds on that commitment by strengthening California’s laws to confront new and emerging forms of abuse. My bill, SB 1276, is a critical step forward to holding online child predators accountable. I thank Governor Newsom for signing my bill and standing with us in putting the safety of California’s children first.”

Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles): “There’s no reason TK and kindergarteners should be forced onto screens in school or at home. Our public school-screen obsession is causing serious cognitive damage to the next generation and I’m grateful the Governor has embraced the need to rethink this whole paradigm.  More work must be done and I look forward to working with my fellow concerned parent colleagues in the Legislature to make more changes next year.”

Marc Berkman, CEO, Organization for Social Media Safety: “With this package, Governor Newsom has made California the national leader in protecting children on social media, taking on the industry’s addictive designs and profit-over-safety practices that have harmed millions of California children. We are deeply grateful for the Governor’s leadership and for the bipartisan legislators who carried these bills, including AB 1709, which restricts addictive design features for users under 16 and which the Organization for Social Media Safety was proud to sponsor. These laws are an extraordinary foundation, and as social media and AI evolve, we look forward to ongoing work with California’s leaders to keep education, research, and policy ahead of the risks and make every child safer.”

John Bennett, Director of the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), a project of California Common Cause: “A strong democracy depends on young people being able to grow up in a safe world with the ability to learn and thrive. In recent years, social media and AI have too often intruded on kids’ lives — fueling addiction and mental health struggles that get in the way of them growing into strong, contributing members of society. We applaud Governor Newsom and the tenacity of legislators for getting these meaningful reforms across the finish line.”

LaVita Tuff, Policy Director at Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA): “The bills being signed by Governor Newsom today are massive steps forward to protect California’s children from the all-too-clear risks of AI and addictive social media, while also holding Big Tech accountable for the harm their products cause our kids. MAMA parents across the state advocated relentlessly for policies to safeguard our kids from social media’s addictive features and from so-called ‘companion’ chatbots, and today we celebrate that our voices are being heard. We are deeply grateful to Governor Newsom for his continued leadership on children’s online safety and to all the California legislators who sponsored, championed and voted for these crucial pieces of legislation.”

Ted Lempert, President of Children Now: “AI without safety guardrails has shown itself to be extremely harmful for kids, with children frequently fed dangerous advice and manipulative content from chatbots posing as friends. Adam’s Law (SB 1119), the AI toy moratorium (SB 867) and the other bills signed today are strong steps towards making kids’ interactions with AI safer, and we commend Governor Newsom and the Legislature for taking this bold action to protect our children.”

Jessica Heldman, Executive Director, Children’s Advocacy Institute: “By signing AB 2 and taking the profit out of social media hurting kids, Governor Newsom has distinguished himself and California as the unquestioned leaders in fighting harmful social media companies. And by signing AB 1946 he has likewise placed California at the forefront of helping child victims of sexual exploitation knowingly facilitated by social media companies. These two bills represent a landmark achievement in child protection, and Governor Newsom’s signature cements his place as a champion for children and parents alike.”

Jim Steyer, Founder and CEO, Common Sense Media: “Today is a huge victory for kids and parents across California. The momentum in this fight has shifted, and it shifted here, in the tech companies’ home state. Governor Newsom and our champions in the Legislature are sending a clear message that experimenting on children can no longer be the business model for technology in this state. California is leading, and the rest of the country will follow. Our gratitude to the Governor and to every parent who raised their voice to get us to this day.”

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