The California legislature is on the wrong track with Assembly Bill 1709, a bill to prohibit those under 16 from using certain social media apps — the very platforms I used as a teen that changed my life for the better. The Assembly approved the bill in late May, and now the measure is before the Senate. AB 1709 claims a ban is needed because platforms like TikTok and Instagram are engineered to encourage compulsive use, which some argue can cause diminished attention, depression, anxiety and sleep disruption in young people. AB 1709 prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from creating or maintaining an account on social media platforms that have “addictive features,” like notifications or algorithms meant to encourage further scrolling. Under the bill, the onus is on social media companies to verify the ages of its users. The bill doesn’t say how companies will confirm that users under 16 aren’t on the platform; it just says the companies would be required to implement “reasonable measures” to prevent them from…