On March 14, a federal judge ruled that California cannot enforce a state law designed to protect children from harmful online content. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted a preliminary injunction to the trade group NetChoice, stating that the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act likely violated its members' free speech rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2022, required businesses like Amazon.com, Google, Facebook, Meta Platforms, Netflix, and X (owned by Elon Musk) to create reports on the potential harm their online platforms could pose to children. It mandated steps to mitigate risks before launching, such as estimating the ages of child users, configuring privacy settings, or applying high settings for all users. Non-compliance could result in civil fines up to $7,500 per child for intentional violations.
NetChoice objected, claiming the law would turn them into state-sanctioned censors, camouflaged under the guise of privacy protection. The group's lawyer, Ambika Kumar, hailed the decision to enjoin the law as a victory against what she described as "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, content-based censorship."
In her 56-page ruling, Judge Freeman criticized the law for imposing significant burdens that were not narrowly tailored to serve California's stated goal of safeguarding children from various online harms. She highlighted that regulations focusing on emotional responses to speech are considered content-based and must be carefully constrained.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office expressed disappointment and vowed to defend the state's laws, planning to challenge the decision in court. This case, known as NetChoice LLC et al v Bonta, is ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California under docket number 22-08861.