California Catholic Conference urges support for social media restrictions

The California Catholic Conference is urging residents to support Assembly Bill 1709, which seeks to restrict “addictive features” on social media for children under the age of 16. The conference cited concerns regarding rising rates of mental illness and self-harm among youth, noting that young people report feeling addicted to platforms and exposed to harmful content.

This legislative push follows a significant legal development involving Meta. The company recently agreed to a settlement of up to $17.1 billion to resolve claims brought by a coalition of 47 states and several territories. The lawsuit alleged that Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, fueled addictive and harmful social media use among young users.