We live in an environment today that is constantly connected, and for most of us, the digital world feels unavoidable. The digital life is especially unavoidable for teenagers, as they have grown up with phones, social media, and constantly being plugged in. Trying to keep kids protected while the digital world continues to grow is a common concern for parents. As parents, you might wonder what you should know about online safety and what California is doing to protect your teens.
To address these concerns, lawmakers created California’s teen digital safety laws to deal with the rising worry about teen mental health. Yet laws can get confusing, and you may not know what’s in place to support your child or how you can help. That’s why we created this article. It will explain what California’s new digital safety laws are, so you and your teen understand the impact of online life and what the state is doing to protect mental health.
How Online Life Affects Teen Mental Health
For many teens, time spent online is a necessity. It’s where friendships form, where teens shape their identities, and where information is shared. To highlight this point, recent surveys find that about 95% of teens use social media, and nearly one in five report being online almost constantly.1
But, unfortunately, online life can also negatively influence emotional health during a time when the brain is still developing. Studies show that social media use negatively affects sleep in young people, which is very important in emotional regulation.2 In addition, teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media are at double the risk of experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression compared to peers with lower use.3
Teens are especially vulnerable to the impacts of online life because their brains are particularly responsive to rewards and social approval.4 This development makes platforms built around likes, comments, and visibility especially impactful.
Cyberbullying also remains a serious concern, with surveys suggesting that nearly half of teens report experiencing some form of online harassment.5 These experiences can contribute to increased anxiety, lower self-esteem, and emotional withdrawal.6
Mission Prep Healthcare specializes in mental health treatment for teens aged 12-17, offering residential and outpatient programs for anxiety, depression, trauma, and mood disorders. Our therapies include CBT, DBT, EMDR, and TMS, tailored to each adolescent’s needs.
With a structured, supportive environment, we integrate academic support and family involvement to promote lasting recovery. Our goal is to help teens build resilience and regain confidence in their future.
How California Is Increasing Digital Safety for Teens
In recent years, the state has focused many of its laws on protecting teen mental health in California. Below are some of the pieces of legislation designed to look after adolescent mental health online.
1. Stronger Age-Based Protections (AB 1043)
To increase online safety for teens in California, lawmakers passed the Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043). This law requires operating system providers to verify age when setting up a device.7 By doing this, platforms can apply strong protections for minors and restrict certain content based on age. This type of teen online protection in California reduces exposure to adult or harmful material, like certain apps that might be inappropriate for their age.
2. Clearer Rules Around Companion Chatbots (SB 243)
Another California youth digital safety policy is SB 243. This bill states that AI chatbots must clearly disclose that the minor is not speaking with a human and includes reminders to take breaks during extended use.8
This law matters because teens may confide in AI tools during vulnerable moments. Being transparent reduces confusion, and having built-in crisis prompts can provide an extra layer of protection for teens who are finding it difficult to cope.
3. Warnings About Social Media Use (AB 56)
Under this law, social media platforms must display a “black box” warning message to users under 18. The warning message functions similarly to a public health advisory in that it gives a clear warning spotlighting potential mental health risks.9
The intention of California’s social media safety initiatives is to bring awareness to the risks and how social media use affects mental health.
4. Stronger Protections Against Deepfakes and Online Harassment (AB 621 & AB 772)
California has also strengthened protections against harmful digital behavior, especially cyberbullying and deepfake pornography. Lawmakers hope to protect minors against deepfakes through AB 621 by allowing lawsuits against people who make deepfakes and increasing penalties against parties who knowingly distribute this kind of content.10
AB 772 is legislation that reduces online mental health risks by targeting cyberbullying. This bill addresses cyberbullying by requiring the California Department of Education to develop a model policy for addressing cyberbullying that occurs outside of school hours. It also provides guidelines for schools and county offices on how to handle cyberbullying incidents.11 AB 772 is essentially guidance for school compliance with digital safety laws when incidents affect student well-being.
What Laws Can’t Fix
While there is a lot of impact of digital safety laws on teen mental health, policies can’t fix everything. Policies can reduce certain risks, like exposure to explicit content or deceptive AI tools, but they cannot eliminate the emotional realities of adolescence. In other words, they can’t prevent every instance of social comparison, peer conflict, or online exclusion. They also can’t stop a teen from tying their self-worth to likes or comments. And they cannot treat anxiety, depression, or underlying mental health challenges once they begin to take root.
How You Can Support Your Teen’s Mental Health
While policies and laws can create safer platforms and environments, parents still play a large role in how teens handle what comes from the impact of social media and the digital world. Open communication plays a large part in helping your teen manage their emotional world.
Teens are more likely to share their experiences when conversations feel curious rather than critical. Instead of immediately restricting access, asking them how certain apps make them feel can encourage trust and openness.
Setting reasonable, consistent boundaries also helps. Boundaries shouldn’t be punitive and work best if you and your teen agree upon them together. Creating boundaries around screen use and sleep, such as going screen-free 30 minutes to an hour before sleep and creating device-free family time, can improve mood and connection.
As many districts introduce digital well-being programs in California schools, families can reinforce those same lessons at home. When parents model healthy tech habits and emotional awareness, they strengthen the school and community initiatives for teen digital safety that are already happening.
How Mission Prep Can Support Teens in a Digital World
With continued conversations around California’s programs to reduce online risks for youth, real healing happens within relationships and structured support. Safer online environments matter, but teens also need tools, coping skills, and places to process what they’re experiencing and feeling. That’s what Mission Prep offers.
Our treatment program specializes in teen mental health. We help teens and their families navigate concerns like anxiety, depression, trauma, and technology dependence alongside the pressures of growing up in a constantly connected world.
If you’re worried about how the digital world is affecting your teen’s emotional well-being, reach out to us. With several locations across California, we can help your child feel more stable, supported, and confident, both online and off.
FAQs About California’s Digital Safety Laws
It’s natural to have questions about how California’s digital safety laws will impact teen mental health. So we’ve provided the following answers to FAQs to give as much clarity as possible.
What Should Parents Know About Teen Online Safety?
What parents should know about teen online safety is that digital experiences can affect sleep, self-esteem, and peer relationships. Being constantly connected to systems meant to drive social validation can negatively affect emotional development. While California’s youth mental health and digital safety laws can reduce risk at the platform level, parents still play a huge role in promoting healthy digital habits.
What Is the Kids Online Safety Act in California?
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is a proposed law to limit online harm for children under the age of 18. In response, California enacted the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act (SB 976). This law limits social media companies and other websites from using addictive algorithmic feeds, notifications, and other addictive design features that cause kids to spend long periods of time on their platforms.12
What Are the Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World?
California has implemented several executive orders and teen online protection laws to protect the privacy of minors. One of which was Senate Bill 568. This bill became effective in 2015 and prohibits online services from marketing to minors when the products and services can only be bought by a person over 18 years old.13 These measures are part of the efforts to limit exploitation, manipulation, and targeted harm.
How Does Mission Prep Support Teen Mental Health and Digital Safety?
Yes, we specialize in adolescent mental health care. With residential, outpatient, or intensive outpatient programs, we provide treatment that meets your teen where they are. By integrating evidence-based care with digital dependency, our team helps address mental health concerns tied to digital experiences.
References
- Faverio, M., & Sidoti, O. (2025, December 9). Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/12/12/teens-social-media-and-technology-2024/
- Yu, D., Wing, Y. K., Li, T., & Chan, N. Y. (2024). The Impact of social media use on sleep and mental health in Youth: A scoping review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 26(3), 104–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-024-01481-9
- Riehm, K., Feder, K., Tormohlen, K., Crum, R., Young, A., Green, K., Pacek, L., La Flair, L., & Mojtabai, R. (2019). Associations between time spent using social media and internalizing and externalizing problems among US youth. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(12), 1266. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2325
- Abrams, Z. (2023, August 3). Why young brains are especially vulnerable to social media. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2022/social-media-children-teens
- Vogels, E. (2025, April 24). Teens and Cyberbullying 2022. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/12/15/teens-and-cyberbullying-2022/
- Khalaf, A., Alubied, A., Khalaf, A., & Rifaey, A. (2023). The Impact of social media on the mental health of adolescents and young Adults: a systematic review. Cureus, 15(8), e42990. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42990
- CalMatters Digital Democracy. (2025, October 13). AB 1043: Age Verification Signals: software applications and online services. https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1043
- California Legislative Information. (2025, October 14). SB-243 Companion Chatbots. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243
- California Legislative Information. (2025, October 14). AB-56 Social media: warning labels. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB56
- California Legislative Information. (2025, October 14). AB-621 Deepfake pornography. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB621
- California Legislative Information. (2025, October 13). AB-772 Cyberbullying: Off-campus Acts: Model Policy. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB772
- State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. (2024, September 21). Attorney General Bonta’s sponsored bill to protect children from social media Addiction, Adverse Health Effects, signed into law. https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta%E2%80%99s-sponsored-bill-protect-children-social-media-addiction
- California Legislative Information. (2013, September 23). SB-568 Privacy: Internet: minors. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB568
