Assembly passes AB 2 to hold social media platforms financially accountable for harms to children

Assemblymember Al Muratsuki Lowenthal’s AB 2, aimed at holding large social media platforms accountable for harm to children, passed the California Assembly on a roll call of Ayes 59, Nos 0.

Lowenthal, the bill’s author, told the Assembly that AB 2 would impose “duty of care” incentives on major platforms so that companies that earn billions off young users take steps to reduce predictable harms to children and teenagers. “This legislation sets damage levels that can be meted out only if a court imposes financial responsibility on large social media companies when their own negligence has been proven,” Lowenthal said, adding the bill is intended to align social media with ordinary consumer-product safety expectations.

Supporters said the bill addresses documented risks to minors from addictive design and algorithmic amplification. “We know that these sites view our time and attention as a commodity,” Assemblymember Pellerin, a coauthor, said, describing parents’ and clinicians’ testimony about self-harm, eating disorders and drug connections traced to platform algorithms. Assemblymember Patterson, another joint author, described a local case in which a young person obtained fentanyl after contact through an online platform and urged lawmakers that platforms must be responsible for foreseeable harms their products enable.

Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan, speaking in favor, framed the measure as a state-level response to federal inaction, noting that an AI- and algorithm-focused federal preemption proposal in Washington would remove states’ abilities to regulate harmful algorithmic systems. “States have stepped up… to say our children deserve products that are safe,” she said.

Assemblymember Hoover emphasized evidence linking increased social-media use to worsening mental-health metrics among teens and girls in particular and urged colleagues to approve the bill.

According to speakers on the Assembly floor, AB 2 does not change California’s general burden of proof for negligence; it creates financial incentives and a pathway for courts to hold companies financially liable when negligence is proven. Supporters stressed the bill targets “design and algorithmic choices” that make platforms particularly risky for developing brains; several members said it was crafted to apply to major platforms rather than small services.

The measure drew broad bipartisan support on the Assembly floor. After debate closed, the clerk opened and closed the roll; the tally was recorded as Ayes 59, Nos 0 and the measure passed.

Action: The Assembly approved AB 2 on a roll call vote of 59-0.

Ending: AB 2 now carries the Assembly’s approval as reflected in the roll call; the Assembly record shows the measure passed the floor vote recorded in this session.