On Sept. 18, a federal judge temporarily blocked a new California law meant to protect children on the internet. The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA) unanimously passed California Legislature last September, and is set to go into effect next summer.
The law restricts businesses and Big Tech platforms’ ability to collect data on anyone under the age of 18. It requires businesses to both verify a user’s age before granting access to their site and enforce the highest privacy standards on kids and teens.
The businesses must also assess whether their online products or services could harm children. Each intentional violation is subject to civil penalties of up to $7,500.
The trade group, NetChoice — which includes Google, Meta, Amazon and TikTok — sued to block the bill on July 1, 2024. The company argued the legislation would pressure private companies into becoming “rover censors” of content that the state deems harmful.
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted the preliminary injunction saying that the CAADCA “likely violates the First Amendment” of the U.S. Constitution, writing:
“Putting aside for the moment the issue of whether the government may shield children from such content — and the court does not question that the content is in fact harmful — the court here focuses on the logical conclusion that data and privacy protections intended to shield children from harmful content, if applied to adults, will also shield adults from that same content.”
Judge Freeman further stated that adults would be reduced to “reading only what is fit for children.”
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which went into effect in 1998, already “limits the ability of online providers to collect personal information from children.”
Several other states are considering and voting on similar content moderation bills like the CAADCA, including New York, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas.
In August, a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a law that required porn sites to verify visitors were at least 18 years old. The judge ruled that the law violated the First Amendment, claiming the it would deter “adults’ access to legal sexually explicit material, far beyond the interest of protecting minors.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review laws in Florida and Texas that restrict social media platforms from moderating content posted to their sites.