The state of California could soon hold social media companies responsible for harming kids who have become addicted to their products, permitting parents to sue platforms like TikTok and Instagram for up to $25,000 per violation under a bill that passed the state Assembly on Monday, May 23.
The said bill defines "addiction" as children under 18 who are both harmed - either emotionally, developmentally, physically, mentally, or materially - and who want to stop or reduce how much time they spend on social media platforms but they can't because they are obsessed or preoccupied with it.
Business groups have previously warned that if the bill passes, social media companies would most likely halt operations for kids in California rather than face the legal risk, according to the Associated Press.
Monday's vote keeps Cunningham bill alive this year
The proposed bill would only apply to social media companies that recorded at least $100 million in gross revenue in the past year, appearing to take aim at social media heavyweights like Facebook and others that dominate the marketplace.
It would not apply, however to streaming services like Hulu and Netflix or to companies that only offer text messaging and email services. Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo County and author of the bill, said that the era of unfettered social experimentation on children is over and they will protect kids.
The vote on Monday is a key step for the legislation but not the final one, according to PennLive. The bill will now head to the state Senate, where it will undergo weeks of hearings and negotiations among advocates and lawmakers. The bill's proponents will be delighted, though, as Monday's vote keeps it alive this year.
The bill, which would take effect on January 1 if it becomes a law, gives social media companies two paths to escape liability in the courts. Companies that remove features deemed addictive to kids by April 1 would not be responsible for damages. Companies that conduct regular audits of their practices to identify and remove features that could be addictive to kids would also be immune from lawsuits.
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Business groups vehemently oppose bill
Business groups have opposed the bill despite those aforementioned provisions. TechNet, a bipartisan network of technology CEOs and senior executives, wrote a letter to lawmakers, telling them that if the bill becomes law, "social media companies and online web services would have no choice but to cease operations for kids under 18 and would implement stringent age-verification in order to ensure that adolescents did not use their sites."
The group wrote that there is no social media company let alone any business that could tolerate that legal risk. Lawmakers appeared willing to change the part of the bill that allows parents to sue the social media giants, but none of them offered a detailed alternative, according to Business Insider.
