Amending AB 1709 Doesn't Fix It: California’s Social Media Ban Still Threatens Free Speech

• California’s amended AB 1709 continues to effectively ban social media access for youth under 16 despite recent changes.
• The bill remains a significant threat to the First Amendment rights of Californians and poses serious risks to user privacy through mandatory age verification.

Restricted Access and Functional Censorship

• Section 22683 prohibits platforms from offering "addictive features" to users under 16, a category defined so broadly that it covers almost all recommendation algorithms.
• Because nearly all major social media platforms rely on functional feeds based on user interests and follows, the result is a functional denial of access for minors.
• Stripping these features creates a degraded service, burdening the constitutional rights of young people to access information and participate in public discourse.

Privacy and Security Risks

• Section 22684 explicitly mandates that platforms verify the age of users, leaving them liable if minors bypass checks.
• Without clear implementation guidelines, platforms will likely default to the most invasive verification methods, such as requiring government-issued IDs or biometric scanning.
• These requirements create "honeypots" of sensitive personal data, increasing the risk of security breaches and destroying online anonymity.
• Biometric age verification tools have historically demonstrated high error rates based on race and gender, raising concerns about discrimination and accuracy.

Regulatory Confusion

• The amendments introduce legal conflicts with existing laws like SB 976, creating a disorganized regulatory environment.
• Critics argue that rather than protecting youth, the bill amounts to censorship, setting a dangerous precedent for cutting young people off from digital communities and speech.