The concerns from Smithing and other advocates, like co-chair of the nonprofit Design it for Us Sebastian Mahal, suggest politicians pursuing age-gating in Europe and the United States may find themselves at odds with some of the groups they’ve counted as allies in past fights to rein in social media giants.

Mahal told Decoded in a statement that a blanket social media ban “restricts access instead of addressing the root problems through meaningful platform accountability.”

“We urge Governor Newsom to continue championing design-centered regulation that tackles the core business model of social media and AI products,” Mahal added.