California is about to make your late-night streaming binges slightly less jarring: a new law banning streaming services from showing ads louder than the surrounding content takes effect on July 1. Existing rules already rein in broadcast and cable TV commercials, so this is basically the state finally noticing that your phone, tablet, and smart TV also deserve some auditory dignity.

Streaming platforms have been characteristically tight-lipped about how they'll comply - Ars Technica notes they haven't shared details. But since the law only applies in California for now, and Illinois has a similar bill coming next year, expect the industry to grudgingly roll out changes everywhere rather than maintain two volume systems. Because nothing says 'we care' like a multi-state legal shove.

When the law passed in 2025, its sponsor, State Senator Thomas Umberg, invoked the real heroes: 'every exhausted parent who’s finally gotten a baby to sleep, only to have a blaring streaming ad undo all that hard work.' The Motion Picture Association of America and the Streaming Innovation Alliance opposed the bill, arguing that streamers were already working on it - and that juggling TVs, tablets, and phones is hard, you guys.