Gavin Newsom wants to take smartphones out of schools

Gov Gavin Newsom (D-CA) vowed to severely restrict the use of smartphones during the school day, a dramatic move by the nation’s largest state amid dire warnings from the Biden administration that social media harms children. Newsom’s decision comes a day after Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned the threat social media poses to kids is so acute that Congress should compel apps to include warning labels similar to cigarettes and alcohol. Newsom said he would work with his Democratic-dominated Legislature to pass the restrictions during the current session that ends in August. In 2023, Newsom wrote a letter calling on the tech industry to drop a lawsuit against the children’s online safety law he signed in 2022. Newsom’s announcement is particularly meaningful since it comes from the state Silicon Valley calls home and from a governor who often aligns with the tech industry.