Device / OS
Scheduled
- Bill / statute
- AB 1043, Digital Age Assurance Act (2025)
- Status
- Passed, not yet in effect
- Effective
- Jan 1, 2027
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
- Sponsor
- Asm. Buffy Wicks (D)
Digital Age Assurance Act. Signed by Gov. Newsom Oct 13, 2025; operative Jan 1, 2027 (existing devices have until Jul 1, 2027). Operating systems prompt for the user birth date at setup and pass an age-bracket signal to apps -- a self-reported model, not a hard government-ID gate. Enforced by the Attorney General; no private right of action.
Timeline
- Oct 13, 2025Scheduled
- Oct 13, 2025Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043) signed
- Jan 1, 2027In effect
Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Social media
In effect
- Bill / statute
- SB 976 (2024)
- Status
- Active law in effect
- Effective
- Partly in effect 2025
- Intrusiveness
- Moderate -- Standard ID or age-estimate check to enter adult sites; civil enforcement.
- Sponsor
- Sen. Nancy Skinner (D)
Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act. Signed Sept 2024. The Ninth Circuit (Sep 9, 2025) upheld most of the law and struck only a default-settings provision; it did not rule on the age-assurance section, deferring until AG rules are final. AG rulemaking is underway (public hearing June 30, 2026); the age-assurance/age-determination duty is required by Jan 1, 2027.
Timeline
- Sep 20, 2024Scheduled
- Sep 20, 2024SB 976 signed
- Dec 31, 2024Time-of-day provisions blocked; age assurance and feed limits left to stand
- Jan 28, 2025Court hold
- Sep 9, 2025In effect
- Dec 31, 2026Age verification required
Source: oag.ca.gov
Social media
Court hold
- Bill / statute
- AB 2273 -- Age-Appropriate Design Code (2022)
- Status
- Enacted, blocked by court
- Effective
- (enjoined)
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
- Sponsor
- Asm. Buffy Wicks / Cottie Petrie-Norris
The Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (Cal. Civ. Code 1798.99.28-1798.99.40), enacted unanimously in 2022, would have taken effect Jul 1, 2024. It has never been enforced. Judge Beth Labson Freeman (N.D. Cal.) enjoined it in full on Sep 18, 2023. The Ninth Circuit affirmed on Aug 16, 2024 only as to the data protection impact assessment / risk-mitigation requirement (1798.99.31(a)(1)-(2)) and provisions not grammatically severable from it, vacated the rest, and remanded under Moody v. NetChoice. On remand the district court again enjoined the whole Act on Mar 14, 2025 and, in the alternative, seven specific provisions. On Mar 12, 2026 the Ninth Circuit (No. 25-2366) VACATED the injunction as to the entire statute and, specifically, as to the AGE ESTIMATION requirement -- holding NetChoice cannot succeed on a facial attack there without a developed record -- while affirming the injunction as to the data-use restrictions and the dark-patterns prohibition as likely unconstitutionally vague, and remanding on age estimation and severability. Read that carefully on an age-verification map: the age-estimation mandate is the only AV-relevant duty in the Act and it is no longer under injunction. It is not established whether NetChoice has renewed its challenge on remand; when it did so previously the state agreed to a temporary stay of enforcement, so the Act may remain unenforced without a court ordering it.
Timeline
- Sep 15, 2022Scheduled
- Sep 15, 2022AB 2273 signed
- Sep 18, 2023Court hold
- Sep 18, 2023Enjoined in full (NetChoice v. Bonta, N.D. Cal., Judge Freeman)
- Aug 16, 2024Ninth Circuit affirms as to the DPIA requirement, vacates the remainder, remands under Moody
- Mar 14, 2025District court enjoins the whole Act again, alternatively seven provisions
- Mar 12, 2026Ninth Circuit vacates the injunction as to the Act and to age estimation; affirms as to data-use and dark patterns (No. 25-2366)
Source: law.justia.com
Social media
Proposed
- Bill / statute
- AB 1709 (2026)
- Status
- Proposed bill (not yet law)
AB 1709 (2026) would bar under-16s from creating or keeping social-media accounts and, to enforce that, require every user to verify their identity before using a platform. It passed the California Assembly and is moving through the Senate as of June 2026. EFF and other digital-rights groups strongly oppose it, warning it would end online anonymity and push ID checks or facial age-estimation onto all users.
Source: idtechwire.com
