California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 3216 — known as the Phone-Free School Act — on Sept. 23.
This bill will require all California K-12 school districts, charter schools and county offices of education to develop a policy which limits the use of or entirely prohibits smartphones by July 1, 2026.
The PFSA was a bi-partisan bill authored by Republican Assembly Member Josh Hoover and Democratic Assembly Members David Alvarez, Josh Lowenthal and Al Muratsuchi.
“We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression and other mental health issues,” Newsom said. “This new law will help students focus on academics, social development and the world in front of them — not their screens — when they’re in school.”
Three days prior, Newsom signed SB 976, more commonly referred to as the Social Media Addiction bill.
This bill prohibits online social media platforms from:
- Knowingly providing an addictive feed to a minor without parental consent
- Sending notifications to minors during school hours and late at night
The Social Media Addiction bill builds on AB 2273, a bill signed by Newsom in 2022 which requires online platforms to “consider the best interest of child users” and “protect children’s mental and physical health and well-being.”
Newsom also has been working to put limitations and clarifications on the usage of AI. He signed a series of 18 AI-related bills and a complete list can be found here.
These bills include efforts to crack down on deep fakes, require AI watermarking, protect children and workers and combat AI-generated misinformation.
“We have a responsibility to protect Californians from potentially catastrophic risks of GenAI deployment,” Newsom said. “We will thoughtfully — and swiftly — work toward a solution that is adaptable to this fast-moving technology and harnesses its potential to advance the public good.”
Anthony Vasek can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
