California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that requires social media companies to provide users with a straightforward method to delete their accounts and remove their personal data. “Governor Newsom signed AB 656, which requires social media companies to make it clear and easy for a user to delete their account – and requires that deletion also trigger full deletion of the user’s personal data,” Newsom’s office stated in a press release. “This law builds on the administration’s prior work to protect consumers and their privacy,” it added. The legislation is the first-of-its-kind in the country and other states are expected to follow. “Your data should be just that — YOURS,” Newsom said. Your data should be just that — YOURS. https://t.co/JFEKYkrRlX — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 10, 2025 More from KTLA: Assembly Bill 656, authored by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (D – Chatsworth ), is a bipartisan bill that strengthens consumer protections in California by establishing a simple, straightforward process for deleting social media accounts. This bill builds on CFC and Assemblymember Schiavo’s “click-to-cancel” law, AB 2863 (2024), which protects consumers from unwanted subscriptions by making cancellations easier, saving them both time and money. “We’d like to thank Governor Newsom for signing this bill and Assemblymember Schiavo for her dedication and hard work to protect consumers,” said CFC Executive Director Robert Herrell. “Consumers shouldn’t feel trapped and forced to navigate a Kafkaesque nightmare to delete unwanted social media accounts. It should be a simple process for consumers to delete their accounts and take their data with them. This is simple common sense and now California has some of the most comprehensive laws in the nation on this issue. From paid subscriptions to free accounts, consumers deserve easy control, and AB 656 helps us make that a reality.” Assemblymember Schiavo stated, “As the mother of a teen, I worry about the toll that social media takes on our children’s mental health. And unfortunately, these platforms are designed to maintain engagement, which deepens addiction. With AB 656 becoming law, California is giving our kids and anyone experiencing the mental health challenges related to social media a clear and easy way to delete their account and personal information from the platform.” Currently, deleting an account one no longer wants, even accounts that were free to sign up for where no regular payment is required, is far too complex and burdensome. Many consumers find that even after you press the “delete account” button, their account is not deleted and could take up to 90 days for a full deletion. In some cases, this button is also buried deep within the accounts settings, taking users as much as 20 steps to request the deletion of their accounts and consumers have to resort to looking up tutorials online to navigate the process. “It shouldn’t be hard to delete social media accounts, and it shouldn’t be even harder to take back control of personal data. With these bills, social media users can be assured that when they delete their accounts, they do not leave their data behind,” Newsom said. California passed a law requiring social media companies to delete your personal data when you deactivate your account. pic.twitter.com/1aozj07g2e — Pirat_Nation (@Pirat_Nation) October 9, 2025 ConsumerAffairs noted: These laws build on the Governor’s prior work to protect consumers and their privacy. That includes last year’s Click to Cancel bill, AB 2863 by Assemblymember Schiavo, that made it easier to cancel subscriptions, and 2023’s SB 362 by Senator Josh Becker, the DELETE Act, which, beginning in August 2026, will allow Californians to delete all of their data held by data brokers through a single interface. A previous measure gave Californians the right to send opt-out signals, but major browsers have not had to make opt-outs simple to use. The bill signed Wednesday would require them to set up an easy-to-find mechanism that lets Californians opt-out with the push of a button, instead of having to do so repeatedly when visiting individual websites. It’s the first law of its kind in the country. “These signals are going to be available to millions more people and it’s going to be much easier for them to opt out,” said Matt Schwartz, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports, in published remarks.