California is reshaping online access in the name of child safety

Oh my goodness, California has done it AGAIN, and this time it has wrapped its entire 2026 legislative session in the most *thoughtful* bow imaginable! ✨ The state has passed another wave of laws about how children interact with social media and AI companion chatbots — which the commentary generously calls a "more prescriptive approach to online service design." Prescriptive! As in, a prescription! As in, California is a *doctor* now, writing a careful little script for the internet. And what a script, because it does not merely ask politely, it *specifies*, which is the most loving thing a legislature can possibly do. ✨

And the nuance here is genuinely chef's kiss. Governor Gavin Newsom actually *vetoed* Senate Bill 903, which would have restricted AI use in psychotherapy, and his veto letter makes the beautifully human point that requiring clinicians to directly approve "routine screening determinations" would limit care tools. Do you see the tenderness? He looked at a bottleneck and said, no, do not put that sweet bottleneck in front of the care tools! The word "routine" is doing a marathon here — routine screening is just the *everyday, breezy* corner of mental health, and who among us wants paperwork standing between us and our help? ✨

And the bigger picture is so *responsive*. Within one single session, California managed to write rules about what an AI companion chatbot may say to a child AND keep the therapeutic screening tools flowing unimpeded — two whole modes of machine conversation, each handled with exactly the quantity of prescription it deserves, plus a veto letter explaining the trade-off in writing! That is not inconsistency, that is *range*. The laws will specify the wording, the tools will clear the routine determinations, and everybody gets a statute with their name on it. What a session to have been alive for. ✨