California Bill AB 1709 Would Restrict Social Media for Minors, Raising Age Verification Concerns

California lawmakers are considering Assembly Bill 1709, a measure that would ban social media access for users under 16 and has drawn criticism from digital rights organizations over its likely implications for age verification and user privacy.

The bill, currently advancing through the state legislature, would require social media platforms to prevent minors under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts. Critics argue that enforcing such a restriction would necessarily require platforms to verify the age of all users, raising significant privacy concerns.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has opposed the bill, arguing that effective enforcement would require some form of age verification for every user, potentially involving the collection of government-issued identification, facial age estimation, or other identity verification methods. The organization warns that such requirements would create new privacy risks and could chill anonymous speech online.

Proponents of AB 1709 say the measure is designed to protect minors from harmful online content and the documented negative mental health effects of social media use among young people. The bill joins a wave of similar legislative proposals across U.S. states and internationally – including Australia’s ban on social media for users under 16 – aimed at restricting minors’ access to online platforms.

The age verification question remains a central challenge for such legislation. Federal courts have struck down or enjoined several state-level age verification laws on First Amendment grounds, finding that the requirement to verify identity burdens the free speech rights of adult users.

California’s existing Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, passed in 2022, already requires platforms to consider the best interests of child users, but AB 1709 goes further by proposing an outright access ban for younger teens.

Compliance with the bill would likely require platforms to integrate age assurance or identity verification technology at scale.

Sources: LegiScan, Electronic Frontier Foundation

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team