Law / United States / 
California
SB 976 (2024), Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act
Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 27000-27007
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since 1 January 2025.
A social media and minors rule binding private bodies.
As of 15 July 2026.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
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.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionNo
Penalties
Enforced only in a civil action brought by the Attorney General; the statute does not set a fixed per violation amount.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
California Attorney General
Litigation
- Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Docket
- 9th Cir. No. 25-146; N.D. Cal. No. 5:24-cv-07885-EJD
- Posture
- 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.
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Social media platforms as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 22675.
Verification methods
Third party service, Self declaration
When LexLint raises it
operates_social_platform
Read the law
official Health and Safety Code text and the Ninth Circuit's opinion in NetChoice, LLC v. Bonta
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.