State urged to protect children online

Legislators must do more to restrict social media and AI, parents and advocates say.

- BY KATIE KING

KENT NISHIMURA Getty Images

SEN. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), left, with Julianna Arnold, center, last year.

Julianna Arnold wasn't alarmed when her teen daughter first joined Instagram.

Many people her age were using it. And her daughter Coco had a social life and other hobbies, like track and gymnastics, to balance out her time online.

“It was music and dancing videos and it seemed innocent,” said Arnold, who resides in Los Angeles, explaining that she would look over the content Coco watched.

But Arnold said a man used Instagram to target her daughter while they were living in New York in 2022, sending private messages and acting like a “big brother” to earn her trust. Two weeks after her 17th birthday, Coco met him near her home — and died after taking a fentanyl-laced fake Percocet that he provided.

Similar stories are playing out nationwide as parents grapple with how to protect their children from myriad threats online.

As the state is home to many tech giants, Gov. Gavin Newsom has said California is paving the way for legislative restrictions on social media and artificial intelligence. But while child safety advocates agree progress was made at the state capital this year, they contend that there’s still a long way to go and plan to fight for more protections when legislators reconvene in January.

“I would say California is definitely leading on this,” said Jai Jaisimha, co-founder of the Transparency Coalition, a nonprofit researching the risks and opportunities associated with AI. But “I would love to see a willingness to be a bit stronger in terms of understanding the impacts and taking action faster. We can’t afford to wait three or four years — harm is happening now.”