Social Rocket
California wants to largely ban endless scrolling, autoplay and behaviour-based recommendation feeds for under-16s. Google, Meta and TikTok have therefore filed separate lawsuits on 4 November 2026 against the law Assembly Bill 1709. The rule is meant to take effect on 1 January 2027 – unless a court stops it beforehand.
The dispute is about more than child protection. It is about the core mechanics of major social media platforms: algorithms select content, extend usage time and thereby also create advertising contacts. This is exactly the mechanic California wants to limit for younger users.
What California wants to restrict specifically
AB 1709 was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on 10 September 2026. The law addresses features that can specifically encourage longer use, including:
- Endless scrolling, where new posts keep loading continuously.
- Automatic playing of videos.
- Personalised, learning feeds that analyse usage behaviour to keep people in an app longer.
Affected platforms must provide appropriate age-verification measures. For under-16s, the named features are to be restricted. If they are not adjusted accordingly, a platform could be required to restrict access for this age group.
The law thus targets product design – unlike rules that only cover the delivery of certain advertisements or the storage of personal data.
Why three platform giants are suing
According to Reuters and Associated Press, the cases were filed in various federal courts in California. The companies rely on the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and expression in the US, as well as on Section 230, a central liability rule for online platforms.
Their argument: the state is interfering with the decision of which content is presented, and in what order. Moreover, the companies' own technical safeguards and parents' decisions would be overridden. California's Attorney General has announced that the law will be defended.
For platforms, this is a fundamental conflict. A chronological feed works differently from an algorithmically optimised feed. The choice between the two influences which creators are discovered, how much video is consumed and how campaign reach is generated.
What this means for German brands and social teams
California law does not apply directly to German advertisers. The debate does, however, resemble the European discussion: the Digital Services Act prohibits, among other things, profile-based advertising to minors where the platform knows with reasonable certainty that a user is a minor. California's requirements on endless feeds and autoplay go further in shaping the user experience itself.
For marketing teams, a concrete planning question follows from this: How does a brand reach young audiences when personalised feeds deliver less reach? Greater importance of active search, subscribed creator formats and deliberately sought-out content are conceivable. How far this actually shifts depends on the further legal process and the technical implementation.
The US has become an important test case, alongside other countries. In Australia, social networks are under pressure because of rules for under-16-year-olds. Macron's push for an EU-wide minimum age for social media also shows how strongly the topic has reached Europe. And the conflict over Ofcom data demands makes clear that regulation increasingly intervenes in how platforms technically function.
The next date is the 1 January 2027. Until then, the courts will decide which parts of the Californian law can start as planned.
Sources: Statutory text and procedural status on AB 1709, Reuters of 5 November 2026, Associated Press of 5 November 2026.