For inspiration on how to craft legislation that directly impacts free speech rights, one should definitely not look to the United Kingdom – but that’s exactly what California lawmakers did when crafting a 2022 law aimed at protecting children from harmful online content by dictating how tech companies handle minors’ data and the features available to them. Now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a preliminary injunction against that law, ruling that the industry group challenging it is likely to succeed that at least one portion of the law “facially violates the First Amendment.”
The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA) was touted as legislation that would “protect children from seeing posts about self-harm or from predatory digital advertisers,” but in reality it would “deputize nearly all websites to censor speech California politicians consider ‘harmful’; and require them to collect more data on users of all ages,” according to an industry group. Talk about a huge potential for (allegedly) unintended consequences.
Of course, since the bill increases government control and limits freedom, Gov. Gavin Newsom is all for it.
Social media & the internet are integral – but these spaces have to be safe for our children.
This bill by @AsmBuffyWicks & @Cunning_Jordan stops companies from manipulating kids' data or violating their privacy while ensuring our tech sector can continue to thrive. pic.twitter.com/QazdQT6XbY
— California Governor (@CAgovernor) September 15, 2022
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— Read More: redstate.com
