The Ninth Circuit largely upheld the law on September 9, 2025, blocking only the like-count default and calling the age-verification challenge premature. Rehearing en banc denied November 6, 2025. The case continues in the district court, where NetChoice filed an amended complaint on October 13, 2026.
California SB 976 (Addictive Feeds)
100%became law
Bad for your rightsLaw
- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- Became Law
In force; AG writing age ID check rules
Bans personalized feeds for minors without parental consent, which means platforms have to work out who is a minor.
Latest update
NetChoice filed an amended complaint in its district court case
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Read the full billOfficial bill recordKey facts
- Where
- California, United States
- Bill number
- California SB 976
- Status
- Law
- Threat
- High
- Last update
- October 13, 2026
Topics
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What it does
Platforms cannot serve minors an algorithmic feed personalized to them without verifiable parental consent, cannot send minors notifications overnight or during school hours, must default minors' accounts to private, and must publish user metrics. NetChoice sued, and in September 2025 the Ninth Circuit refused to block the core provisions, holding the feed restrictions and privacy defaults permissible. Attorney General Bonta proposed the implementing regulations on May 14, 2026, covering age determination and parental consent; final rules are due by January 1, 2027.
What’s at stake
A federal appeals court has now blessed feed regulation for minors, which makes SB 976 the template other states copy. And the machinery is in the regulations: to give minors a different feed, platforms have to sort every Californian by age. The statute calls it “age assurance.” It means age ID checks on everyone.
Our take
You cannot build a special internet for minors without identifying the minors, and you cannot identify the minors without checking everyone. The feed rules get the headlines; the age-sorting rules the AG is writing right now are the part that touches every user.
Timeline
Final age ID check regulations dueUpcoming
NetChoice filed an amended complaint in its district court caseLatest
Ninth Circuit said the appeals may be placed on the February 2027 argument calendar
Ninth Circuit sent the motions for an injunction pending appeal to the merits panel
Ninth Circuit consolidated the three appeals
The companies asked the Ninth Circuit for an injunction pending appeal
Meta, TikTok and Google/YouTube appealed to the Ninth Circuit (Nos. 26-5120, 26-5121, 26-5132)
AG Bonta proposed age ID check and parental-consent regulations
Ninth Circuit denied NetChoice's petition for rehearing en banc
Signed by Governor Newsom
The record
Votes
- Assembly: Final passage (47 to 4), August 31, 2024
- Senate: Final passage (28 to 2)
Legal challenges
Judge Davila denied the three companies' preliminary injunction motions on August 5, 2026, and reportedly denied injunctions pending appeal in late August. On September 17, 2026, the Ninth Circuit sent the companies' motions for an injunction pending appeal to the merits panel (Nos. 26-5120, 26-5121, 26-5132). The state filed its brief on October 6, and on October 8 the court said the appeals may be argued in February 2027. No ruling yet.
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