By admin 
We don’t always see eye to eye as colleagues — a given for a Democrat and a Republican. Yet, despite our differences, we do agree on one thing: Social media, in its present form, is harming kids, and safety measures need to be established to protect them from platforms that profit from addicting them.
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The harmful effects of social media transcend borders, political parties, cultures and socioeconomic levels. For example, our respective assembly districts are more than 400 miles apart. They have different economies, climates and demographics. Yet the horrific stories we hear from our disparate communities are eerily similar: fentanyl being sold over social media without repercussion; “thinspiration” posts fueling teen anorexia; and parents anguishing over their child’s social media addiction, depression and self-harm.
It’s clear that, regardless of where you are in California or beyond, the suffering caused by social media is unquantifiable.
That’s why we’ve moved past our differences to introduce legislation that puts kids’ safety at the center of social media policy. Together, we introduced Assembly Bill 1709, which would restrict social media companies from exposing children to addictive features until they are 16, a developmentally appropriate age for such features. This would limit the most harmful design features of social media while allowing kids to stay connected to their communities online.
Our bill would create oversight by establishing, an e-Safety Advisory Commission to monitor compliance, advise on technology policy and enforce digital safety laws. This commission would ensure that California can adapt to technological developments and anticipate future digital safety concerns.
Most of all, California needs social media oversight, because the federal government has failed for decades to act, despite clear data on the harms. We refuse to wait.
We are both dads of school-aged children. We don’t just see how social media affects our constituents; we see how it hurts our children.
Like millions of Californians, both of us have had to battle with how to appropriately set ground rules around social media at home. It is a never-ending struggle without a road map for success and a delicate balance that most parents never feel they get right. Fundamentally, this is a collective action problem where the lack of governmental support leaves households to fend for themselves.
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Social media is designed so there is no winning for kids, parents or communities because the platforms are built to be predatory, addictive and unsafe. They use exploitative features, likened to slot machines, that reward kids for endless scrolling. Each minute on the platform is monetized, creating a multi-trillion-dollar engine that Wall Street covets.
Conversely, each minute spent on the platform prevents children from socializing, contributes to social isolation and hurts their attention span and ability to focus. Tragically, kids treat this loneliness by spending more time online — a reciprocal doom loop.
Like the stories from our communities, the data is grim. Teen depression has doubled since 2009, and teen suicide has risen 85% since 2007. It is no accident that these trends coincide with the ascendancy of social media.
As shocking as these statistics are, they are the logical consequence of kids spending upwards of five hours on social media every day. We need to call that what it is: addiction. Kids are paying the price for corporate greed, and California needs to take action.
With AB 1709, we believe a brighter future is in sight, one in which kids can connect online without navigating dangerous systems. It is a future in which parents won’t have to make impossible choices about how to govern social media use, and California will have a collective roadmap to safeguard youth mental health.
It is this shared vision that has brought us together from both ends of the political spectrum. After all, ensuring children’s safety is not a partisan issue; it’s a moral one.
Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, represents California’s 69th Assembly District. Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, represents California’s 5th Assembly District.
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