California
California has enacted four major age-gating and minor online safety statutes and is considering two more. The Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AB 2273, 2022) remains substantially enjoined after a March 2026 Ninth Circuit ruling that left its data protection impact assessment requirement enjoined, upheld the injunction on its data use and dark patterns provisions on vagueness grounds, and lifted the injunction on its coverage definition and age estimation requirement while remanding for further severability analysis. The Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act (SB 976, 2024) is largely in effect after a September 2025 Ninth Circuit ruling, except for its default setting that hides like and share counts, which the court ordered enjoined; its age verification component does not take effect until 2027. The Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043, 2025) requires device level age signals starting January 1, 2027, and AB 56 (2025) requires mental health warning labels for users under 18 on addictive platforms starting the same day. Two pending bills, AB 1709 (a social media minimum age proposal) and AB 1856 (which would extend age signals to browsers and websites), have each passed the Assembly and are in the Senate Appropriations Committee. California has no adult content age verification law in effect; a 2024 attempt, AB 3080, died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Subnational jurisdiction. Reviewed 2026-07-15.
SB 976 (2024), Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act
Bars addictive feeds, most nighttime and school hour notifications, and non default privacy settings for users a platform knows are minors, without verifiable parental consent. A separate age verification requirement is not effective until January 1, 2027.
- Citation
- Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 27000-27007
- Status
- In force
- Effective date
- 2025-01-01
- Applies to
- Private sector
- Age threshold
- 18
- Verification methods
- third party service, self declaration
- Covered services
- Social media platforms as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 22675.
- Penalties
- Enforced only in a civil action brought by the Attorney General; the statute does not set a fixed per violation amount.
- Enforcement body
- California Attorney General
- Private right of action
- no
- Litigation
- 9th Cir. No. 25-146; N.D. Cal. No. 5:24-cv-07885-EJD, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, A September 9, 2025 ruling affirmed denial of an injunction as to most provisions but ordered the district court to enjoin the default setting that hides like and share counts on minors' posts, finding that provision likely violates the First Amendment. The age verification requirement's challenge was found unripe because it does not start until 2027.
- Source
- Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 27000-27007
AB 1043 (2025), Digital Age Assurance Act
Requires operating system providers to ask account holders for a birth date or age at device setup and to send a real time age bracket signal (under 13, 13 to under 16, 16 to under 18, or 18 and older) to app developers, without requiring government ID or biometric data.
- Citation
- Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.500-1798.505
- Status
- Enacted, not yet in force
- Effective date
- 2027-01-01
- Applies to
- Private sector
- Age threshold
- 18
- Verification methods
- self declaration, device signal
- Covered services
- Operating system providers and application developers.
- Penalties
- Civil penalties up to $2,500 per affected child for a negligent violation and up to $7,500 for an intentional violation.
- Enforcement body
- California Attorney General
- Private right of action
- no
- Source
- Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.500-1798.505
AB 2273 (2022), California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act
Requires businesses providing an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children under 18 to complete data protection impact assessments, configure default settings for high privacy and safety, and avoid dark patterns and profiling of minors.
- Citation
- Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.99.28-1798.99.40
- Status
- Enjoined
- Effective date
- 2024-07-01
- Applies to
- Private sector
- Age threshold
- 18
- Verification methods
- facial estimation, self declaration
- Covered services
- Online services, products, or features likely to be accessed by children.
- Penalties
- Civil penalties up to $2,500 per affected child for a negligent violation and up to $7,500 for an intentional violation.
- Enforcement body
- California Attorney General
- Private right of action
- no
- Litigation
- 9th Cir. Nos. 23-2969 and 25-2366; N.D. Cal. No. 5:22-cv-08861-BLF, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, The data protection impact assessment requirement, data use restrictions, dark patterns restriction, and notice and cure provision remain enjoined. A March 12, 2026 Ninth Circuit ruling vacated the injunction on the coverage definition and age estimation requirement and remanded to the district court to decide whether the remaining provisions are severable.
- Source
- Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.99.28-1798.99.40
AB 56 (2025), social media warning labels for minors
Requires covered addictive platforms to display a prescribed black box warning, attributed to the Surgeon General, to users under 18: for at least 10 seconds covering at least 25 percent of the screen on first daily access, and for at least 30 seconds covering at least 75 percent of the screen after 3 hours of cumulative daily use and each hour thereafter. Approved by the Governor October 13, 2025; operative January 1, 2027.
- Citation
- Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 28000-28002
- Status
- Enacted, not yet in force
- Effective date
- 2027-01-01
- Applies to
- Private sector
- Age threshold
- 18
- Covered services
- Covered platforms, defined as addictive internet based services or applications consistent with Health and Safety Code Section 27000.5, excluding services whose primary function is commerce, cloud storage, email, or direct messaging.
- Private right of action
- no
- Source
- Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 28000-28002
AB 1856 (2026), age verification signals for browsers and websites
Would extend the Digital Age Assurance Act's device level age signal framework to browser providers and website operators, and would exempt operating systems distributed under open source licenses. Passed the Assembly 68 to 1 on May 26, 2026, cleared the Senate Privacy, Data Technology and Cybersecurity Committee 9 to 0 as amended on June 30, 2026, and was in the Senate Appropriations Committee with a hearing set for August 3, 2026.
- Citation
- Assembly Bill 1856, 2025-2026 Regular Session, amending Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.500-1798.504
- Status
- Proposed
- Effective date
- Not yet effective
- Applies to
- Private sector
- Verification methods
- device signal, self declaration
- Covered services
- Browser providers and internet website operators, in addition to the operating system providers and app developers already covered by AB 1043.
- Enforcement body
- California Attorney General
- Source
- Assembly Bill 1856, 2025-2026 Regular Session, amending Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.500-1798.504
AB 1709 (2026), minimum age for addictive social media features
Would bar users under 16 from accessing addictive feeds, autoplay, and similar engagement features on covered platforms, using age determinations from the Digital Age Assurance Act or Health and Safety Code Section 27001, and would create an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the Department of Justice. Passed the Assembly and was in Senate Appropriations as of July 9, 2026.
- Citation
- Assembly Bill 1709, 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Status
- Proposed
- Effective date
- Not yet effective
- Applies to
- Private sector
- Age threshold
- 16
- Verification methods
- device signal, self declaration
- Covered services
- Internet websites, online services, or applications that offer an addictive feed as a significant part of the service, excluding commercial transaction sites and cloud storage services.
- Penalties
- Up to $50,000 per affected minor for a knowing violation and up to $25,000 for a negligent violation.
- Enforcement body
- California Attorney General or local public prosecutors
- Private right of action
- no
- Source
- Assembly Bill 1709, 2025-2026 Regular Session
Reviewed 2026-07-15. Confidence: high. Fast-moving area, verify before relying. Not legal advice.