State child safety advocates seek more online protections for minors | #childsafety | #kids | #chldern | #parents | #schoolsafey

News Brief

Monday, December 8, 2025 — 9:52 am

Child safety advocates are pushing for increased online safety protections in Sacramento ahead of the Legislature reconvening in January, even as Gov. Gavin Newsom says California is leading the way on social media and artificial intelligence restrictions, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

“I would say California is definitely leading on this,” Jai Jaisimha, the co-founder of the Transparency Coalition, told the Times. “[But] I would love to see a willingness to be a bit stronger in terms of understanding the impacts and taking action faster. We can’t afford to wait three or four years — harm is happening now.”

Almost half of teens across the country between the ages of 13 and 17 say they’re online “almost constantly,” according to a survey conducted by Pew Research.

This past legislative session, Newsom signed a number of bills into law aimed at online safety for minors, but vetoed Assembly Bill 1064, which would have prevented making companion chatbots that are more likely to lead to negative behaviors, like self-harm, available to minors. 

Some want to revisit that effort or boost current laws, but others are looking to state ballot initiatives. 

“In the world of politics, sometimes you have to try and try again,” Common Sense Media Chief Executive Jim Steyer told the Times. “[But] we have the momentum, we have the facts, we have the public and, most of all, we have the moral high ground, so we are going to win.”

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