{
  "id": 6772805,
  "title": "California Governor Signs Laws Protecting Kids From Risks of Social Media, AI Chatbots",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/california-governor-signs-laws-protecting-kids-from-risks-of-social",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-11T15:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Slashdot",
    "slug": "slashdot",
    "url": "https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/11/0615224/california-governor-signs-laws-protecting-kids-from-risks-of-social-media-ai-chatbots"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a comprehensive set of laws on Thursday designed to safeguard children from the dangers of technology, including social media and AI chatbots. The legislation imposes penalties of up to $1 million per child on large social media companies if they are found negligent in causing harm to young users through their platforms. It also prohibits technology firms from providing addictive feeds to individuals under the age of 16. Furthermore, the law mandates that developers of AI chatbots conduct risk assessments prior to releasing them to the public. The governor accompanied his wife and other state legislators to a children's museum in San Francisco to underscore the significance of protecting young individuals, particularly when they have unrestricted access to social media and AI technologies. As Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan observed, \"We have designed cribs to be safe, chairs to be safe, car seats. Yet we've allowed technology to be handed to our children and never asked or expected it to be safe.\" Additionally, Newsom signed related measures on Wednesday, supported by Anthropic, that seek to enhance oversight of AI companies. One provision obliges the state to establish guidelines for independent entities to evaluate the safety risks associated with AI models, while another requires the creation of a registry of AI auditors who must maintain financial independence from the businesses they audit.",
  "summary": "An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of laws Thursday aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots. The laws will penalize large social media companies up to $1 million per child if they are found negligent of harming children through their platforms, ban tech…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Winnipeg Free Press",
        "title": "California governor signs laws aimed at protecting kids from risks of social media, AI chatbots",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/california-governor-signs-laws-aimed-at-protecting-kids-from-risks-of",
        "published": "2026-09-10T20:44:12.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "California governor signs laws aimed at protecting kids from risks of social media, AI chatbots",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/california-governor-signs-laws-aimed-at-protecting-kids-from-risks-of",
        "published": "2026-09-11T05:34:09.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TechSpot",
        "title": "California bans addictive social media features for children under 16 and tightens AI chatbot rules",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/california-bans-addictive-social-media-features-for-children-under-16",
        "published": "2026-09-11T12:36:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}