Starting in 2027, California will prohibit social media platforms from deliberately delivering addictive feeds to minors without parental consent as part of a new law.

Why it matters: States and cities have been grappling with how to limit what health experts deem to be harmful effects of social media on children and teens. Social media use among youth is linked to depression, anxiety, lack of sleep and internet addiction.

State of play: California's new law, advanced by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this past weekend, makes chronological feeds the default setting for children instead of addictive feeds generated by algorithms intended to keep users engaged.

• "Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom wrote in a news release.
• Children's accounts would also be private by default, and social media platforms would be barred from sending minors notifications late at night or during school hours.

The big picture: New York City announced earlier this year that it is the first city to officially designate social media as an environmental toxin, issuing an advisory.

• San Francisco has also taken steps to address social media use among minors, proposing in 2023 a monitoring task force in part to address youth violence. Officials backtracked after facing criticism from teens, however.
• Utah officials released rules last year under a law requiring age verification and parental consent for minors to use social media. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law earlier this month.
• Judge Robert Shelby wrote that NetChoice, a trade group representing Meta, Google and TikTok, is "substantially likely to succeed on its claim [that] the Act violates the First Amendment."

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Democrats have spent nearly $2 million more than Republicans on political ads in the San Francisco Bay Area since Aug. 1, according to data from analytics platform AdImpact.

Zoom in: That includes spending by campaigns (from the presidential candidates down to lower-ballot hopefuls) as well as by outside groups.

The big picture: Nationwide, Democrats are outspending Republicans on political ads by about a half-billion dollars since Aug. 1, according to data from analytics platform AdImpact.

• As of Sept. 20, Democrats have spent $1.8 billion on ads booked for Aug. 1 through Nov. 5, compared to $1.3 billion for Republicans.
• Campaigns alone, Democrats have spent nearly $700 million, compared to almost $400 million by Republicans.

Between the lines: Both parties are spending the most on ads running in Philadelphia, Detroit and Phoenix, among the metro areas tracked by AdImpact.

What's next: With about a month and a half until Election Day, there's no end in sight for campaign ads.

Go deeper

Mayor London Breed has allocated $8.5 million for a new team aimed at helping the public school district stabilize amid financial woes. (SF Standard)

🏥 San Francisco's reproductive health care system is becoming strained in the wake of the fall of Roe v. Wade, a new report finds. (SF Examiner)

🛎 Hotel industry veteran Anna Marie Presutti has been named president and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association. (SF Chronicle)

🍕 June's Pizza, one of Oakland's most popular pizzerias, has reopened three years after it was shut down for operating without required health permits. (SF Chronicle)

👋 Hi there! Holly Moore, executive editor for Axios Local, here.

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Kevon Looney, a.k.a. Loon Dawg, is ready for the upcoming NBA season.

State of play: Looney, who saw his minutes dwindle last season, entered the offseason with a goal to lose weight in order to play faster, be more versatile, and start shooting three-pointers, NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

What Loon's saying: The 28-year-old Golden State Warriors center feels lighter on his feet, and feels "like [he] can move better," he recently told NBC Sports Bay Area.

• "I can move the way I want to for longer and I feel like I got a little more stamina. I'll still be in the post and I got to defend those big bodies, so maintain that strength and improve weaknesses that I wanted."