A federal judge has once again blocked California’s landmark online child safety law from taking effect. In a ruling on Thursday, US District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted a preliminary injunction in favor of NetChoice, saying the technology trade group’s claims that the law violates the First Amendment would likely succeed.
The law, called the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA), was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 and covered online platforms “likely” to be accessed by children. Along with restricting the use of dark patterns, the law would require these platforms to estimate the age of users and apply specific privacy settings for children. NetChoice argued that its requirements are too vague, as it asked platforms to make “subjective” decisions about content and could have a chilling effect on free speech.
“Even if the Court were to accept that the Act advances a compelling State interest in protecting the privacy and well-being of children, the State has not shown that the CAADCA is narrowly tailored to serve that interest,” Judge Labson Freeman writes. “The Act applies to all online content likely to be accessed by consumers under the age of 18, and imposes significant burdens on the providers of that content.”
“While protecting children online is a goal we all share, California’s Speech Code is a trojan horse for censoring constitutionally protected but politically disfavored speech,” Chris Marchese, NetChoice’s director of litigation, said in a press release. “This decision puts other states on notice that censorship regimes masquerading as ‘privacy protections’ will not survive judicial review.”
