9th Circuit temporarily blocks California social media law aimed at protecting minors

Andrew Sheeler, The Sacramento Bee on Jan 30, 2025

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The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday issued a temporary injunction blocking a California law requiring social media platforms to provide a chronological feed – in lieu of an algorithmic feed – to minor users and limiting notifications to those users during school hours and overnight.

The law has been on pause since earlier this month, after a U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of California agreed to the plaintiff NetChoice’s request to halt it.

NetChoice argues that the law “tramples over free speech” by requiring California residents to hand over sensitive, personal data to verify their age in exchange for accessing protected online speech. They also argue that the law requires mandatory surveillance of online users to verify when a minor is accessing the platforms.

“This is a backdoor requirement for online surveillance by California’s government,” the group contends.

The law will remain unenforced while it is litigated.

The California Attorney General’s Office, which is defending the law, did not immediately respond to The Bee’s request for comment.

Holly Grosshans, speaking on behalf of Common Sense Media, a sponsor of the law that was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, said in a statement that the ruling “will not deter our commitment to protecting children from social media’s addictive design features that prioritize engagement over well-being.”

“The facts haven’t changed since this law was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support,” Grosshans added.

She said that the plaintiff NetChoice, which represents social media companies including Meta and X, is not fighting for free speech.

“They are fighting to preserve their ability to deploy design features scientifically engineered to keep young people scrolling endlessly on their platforms,” Grosshans said.

Paul Taske, speaking on behalf of NetChoice, said in a statement that the organization was grateful for the Ninth Circuit decision.

“This law has serious implications for Californians’ First Amendment and digital privacy rights. NetChoice looks forward to stopping yet another online censorship regime from California’s government,” he said.

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