Recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act into effect in order to implement safety measures for minors on social media.
This law, referred to as "AB 2273," passed in August 2022 and plans to go into effect in July 2024. California will be the very first state to implement this type of law and will likely be used as a model for other states. California is currently modeling this law after one that the United Kingdom passed over a year ago regarding minors and the ways in which technology targets them.
"We're taking aggressive action in California to protect the health and wellbeing of our kids," Newsom explained. "As a father of four, I'm familiar with the real issues our children are experiencing online, and I'm thankful to Assembly members Wicks and Cunningham and the tech industry for pushing these protections and putting the wellbeing of our kids first."
This specific law is especially important because it prevents online services from collecting children's personal data, or from selling such data, such as geographic locations. Specifically, this law mandates that companies turn on their strictest privacy and safety settings (such as messaging control) in order to protect the well-being of children. AB 2273 additionally requires that online businesses finish a Data Protection Assessment prior to providing online services to children.
Critics of this bill, however, have said that the bill is unclear and overgeneralized, which could potentially cause difficulty when it comes to convincing businesses to adhere to specific guidelines. According to NetChoice, a company that has actively avoided laws pertaining to social media guidelines in Texas and Florida, has stated that it strictly goes against Newsom's decision to pass this bill.
"Although AB 2273's motive is well-meaning, many of its chosen means are unconstitutional and risk unintended consequences," remarked NetChoice counsel Chris Marchese. "The law violates the First Amendment by chilling constitutionally protected speech and by infringing on the editorial rights of websites, platforms, and apps of all sizes and ideologies."