California’s New Child-Tech Laws Put Parents Back in the Conversation

California has enacted a sweeping package of laws aimed at reducing technology-related risks to children. The measures target social-media design, AI chatbots and school-issued devices, placing new obligations on companies and giving families more control over how children interact with technology.

Among the provisions are restrictions on addictive feeds for users under 16, risk-assessment requirements for AI chatbot operators and penalties for large social platforms found negligent in cases involving harm to children. Families will also have greater ability to opt out of certain school-issued laptop programs.

The details will be litigated, and technology companies are right to raise questions about implementation, privacy and unintended consequences. But the premise deserves serious attention: children are not simply small adults with smaller screens. Their judgment, impulse control and social development are still forming, while modern platforms are optimized to hold attention for as long as possible.

Parents have spent years being told that the answer is simply better supervision. Supervision matters, but it is unrealistic to place the entire burden on families while companies use sophisticated behavioral systems designed by teams of engineers and psychologists.

The better policy goal is shared responsibility. Parents should remain the primary decision-makers for their children. Schools should be transparent about devices and software. Companies should be accountable for foreseeable risks. And lawmakers should write rules narrow enough to protect children without turning the government into the parent of every household.