CA AB 1709
California Assembly Bill 1709 - Covered Platforms: Age Restriction: e-Safety Advisory Commission
Prohibits a covered platform from providing an addictive feature to a user under 16 years of age and requires reasonable measures to ensure that under-16 users are not provided one. Establishes the e-Safety Advisory Commission within the Department of Justice as an independent advisory body reporting annually to the Legislature and the Governor, and authorises the Attorney General to adopt regulations expanding the definition of covered platform.
Jurisdiction
California
Enacted
Sep 10, 2026
Effective
Jan 1, 2027
Enforcement
California Attorney General or a local public prosecutor, by civil action only
Approved by Governor Newsom and filed with the Secretary of State on September 10, 2026 as Chapter 183, Statutes of 2026. Adds Chapter 22.9 (commencing with Section 22682) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, and Chapter 5.4 (commencing with Section 11530) to the Government Code. The act carries no urgency clause, so it takes effect January 1, 2027 under Article IV, Section 8(c) of the California Constitution, the same date the Digital Age Assurance Act becomes operative. Age determination for the purposes of the prohibition runs through the Digital Age Assurance Act signal.
California Legislative Information: AB 1709, Chapter 183, Statutes of 2026 (chaptered text)Why It Matters
Sets a statutory age floor of 16 for addictive platform features in the largest US state and pairs it with a standing advisory commission that must recommend legislative changes each year. The definition of covered platform is expandable by regulation rather than fixed in statute, so the scope can change without further legislation.
Recent Developments
Signed September 10, 2026 as one of thirteen child online safety bills announced together by the Governor, alongside SB 1119 (companion chatbots) and AB 2246 (replacement age-appropriate design code). The Attorney General's power to expand the covered platform definition by regulation is the provision to watch, because it determines whether conversational and companion products with engagement-optimised feeds fall inside the prohibition.
At a Glance
Applies to
Harms addressed
Requires
Who Must Comply
- Internet websites, online services, online applications and mobile applications that offer addictive features as a substantial component of the service
- Excludes services limited to commercial transactions or reviews, and feeds operated primarily for cloud storage
Obligations fall on:
Applicability thresholds:
Safety Provisions
- Prohibits a covered platform from providing an addictive feature to a user under 16 years of age
- Requires reasonable measures to ensure users under 16 are not provided any addictive feature
- Ties age determination to the Digital Age Assurance Act age-bracket signal
- Authorises the Attorney General to adopt regulations expanding the definition of covered platform
- Establishes a seven-member e-Safety Advisory Commission within the Department of Justice (four gubernatorial appointees, one Senate, one Assembly, one Attorney General)
- Requires the commission to report on or before January 1 of each year to the Legislature and the Governor on its activities and on recommended legislative changes to strengthen protection of minors online
Exemptions
Commercial transactions and reviews
Platforms limited to facilitating commercial transactions or the posting of reviews are outside the definition of covered platform
- • Service scope limited to commercial transactions or reviews
Cloud storage feeds
Feeds operated primarily for the purpose of cloud storage are outside the definition of covered platform
- • Feed operated primarily for cloud storage
Compliance & Enforcement
Key Dates
Jan 1, 2027
Prohibition on providing an addictive feature to a user under 16 takes effect, together with the duty to implement reasonable measures to ensure under-16 users are not provided one
Penalties
$50K; $50K/violation
View on map
California
Focus Areas
Cite This
APA
California. (2026). California Assembly Bill 1709 - Covered Platforms: Age Restriction: e-Safety Advisory Commission.
Related Regulations
CA AB 2
Requires a social media platform with more than $100 million in annual gross revenues to exercise ordinary care or skill in its interactions with minors, and makes it liable in damages for injury to a child caused by a failure to do so. Provides statutory damages of $5,000 per violation capped at $1 million per child, or treble actual damages, whichever is greater, and voids any waiver of the liability. Repealed January 1, 2035.
CA AB 2246
Repeals and replaces the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. Requires a business providing an online service, product or feature likely to be accessed by children to estimate the age of child users with a reasonable level of certainty or extend child protections to all users, to configure high-privacy defaults, and to take reasonable steps to prevent specified harms including severe psychological harm. Removes the exceptions to the data-collection prohibitions, lets children void contracts entered through manipulative design features, and states that it creates no private right of action.
IL HB 5511
Requires covered operators of online platforms to apply protective default settings to users they know to be minors, including limits on algorithmic feeds, a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. notification curfew and no autoplay by default on addictive social media platforms, and establishes a device-level age-bracket signal that Internet-enabled device manufacturers must provide and operators must request. Announced by the Governor as the Children's Social Media Safety Act, the title of the bill as introduced. Enforced by the Attorney General.
IA SF 2417
Establishes requirements and guidelines for conversational AI services including AI disclosure to minors, prohibition on sexually explicit content for minors, prevention of deceptive human-like interactions, and parental controls for children under 13.
CO HB 1263
Imposes obligations on conversational AI service operators including minor-user protections, suicide and self-harm protocols, prohibition on emotional dependence and engagement gamification, and annual safeguard reporting.
GA AI Chatbot Child Safety
Adds O.C.G.A. section 39-5-6, requiring operators of AI companion chatbots to disclose the chatbot is not a natural person, to adopt a protocol for detecting and responding to expressions of severe harm, to restrict specified manipulative and sexualised interactions with minors, and to perform age assurance before providing access to sexually explicit synthetic content.
Last updated September 13, 2026. Verify against primary sources before relying on this information.