The Governor Gavin Newsom warned that it will "vigorously" defend California's Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, a nation-first children's privacy law to protect the well-being, data and privacy of children using online platforms.
"I was proud to sign the bill last year to put California's children first, and now I'm ready to vigorously advocate for it," Newsom said in a statement in response to a recent lawsuit led by the tech industry to block the law.
“As a father of four and Governor of the nation's most populous state, I am passionate about our state's efforts to lead this fight for children's online privacy. No other state is doing more than California to protect children by protecting them from harmful data mining, violent content, and automatic GPS tracking that allows adults to track children."
And it is that, in mid-December 2022, the technology industry group NetChoice filed a lawsuit to block the law signed by Newson in September 2022, which requires technology companies to adopt new policies to protect children and their privacy. online.
Historic bipartisan legislation intended to protect the well-being, data, and privacy of children using online platforms AB 2273, establishes the California Age Appropriate Design Code Act, which requires online platforms to consider the best interest of child users and prefer privacy and secure environments that protect the mental and physical health and well-being of children.
AB 2273 prohibits companies that provide online services, products, or features that children can access from using a child's personal information; collect, sell or retain the geolocation of a child; profile a child by default; and guide or encourage children to provide personal information.
The bill also requires privacy information, terms of service, policies, and community standards to be easily accessible and adhered to, and requires responsive tools to help children exercise their privacy rights.
This bipartisan legislation strikes a balance that protects children and ensures that technology companies will have clear rules that allow them to continue to innovate.
However, NetChoice pointed out in its lawsuit that the law violates the First Amendment, arguing that technology companies have the right, under the Constitution, to make "editorial decisions" about what content they publish or remove.
In turn, they refer that the law, which will enter into force in 2024, would force companies to "serve as roving censors of speech on the Internet", which will cause "excessive moderation" of online content.
At the time, the California Attorney General's office, Rob Bonta, stressed in a statement that "We are reviewing the complaint and look forward to defending this important child safety law in court."
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