Calif. AG Appeals Injunction on Age-Appropriate Design Code Act
California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) on Friday appealed an injunction on the state’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, re-emphasizing the need to protect children online. The U.S. District Court for Northern California had granted trade association NetChoice’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the Act on March 13, ruling that the legislation was content-based, likely violating the First Amendment, and the state failed to allege real harms.
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“We are deeply concerned about further delay in implementing protections for children online. That is why, today, my office has appealed the Northern District of California’s decision blocking enforcement of the Age-Appropriate Design Code,” said Bonta. “I am committed to making social media safer for children by defending California’s commonsense statutes — our kids’ safety cannot wait.”
The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D) and Jordan Cunningham (R), unanimously passed the legislature and was signed into law in September 2022, according to a press release from Bonta Friday. “The act requires that businesses that trade in consumers’ personal information and offer products, services, and features likely to be accessed by children proactively protect their young users’ information and prohibits certain actions that involve the collection and use of that information,” it said.
"Every parent knows that our children are exposed to too much harm online, and they are demanding that tech companies take more responsibility for their actions,” said Wicks.“The court’s ruling was a gut punch to families across California, but I’m incredibly grateful to Attorney General Bonta for stepping up and fighting back. His decision to appeal sends a clear message: we won’t let tech giants put profits over the safety of our children.”
While NetChoice celebrated Judge Beth Labson Freeman’s March decision in case 22-cv-08861 (see 2503130063), Kids Code Coalition, a kids code advocacy group, viewed the ruling as “extreme” (see 2503140063). In an emailed statement to Privacy Daily, the coalition applauded Bonta "for continuing to take the fight to Big Tech on the critical issue of kids’ online safety."
"As advocates who are all too familiar with Big Tech’s obstruct-and-delay playbook, we’re counting on legal champions like AG Bonta to stand up and stop NetChoice’s legal war on kids and its efforts to weaponize the First Amendment to block any and all online safety reform," the coalition said. "Blazing a resilient legal path forward in states like California is a critical component of the nationwide fight to make the internet a safer place for children.”
In August 2024, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction on the AADC Act, ruling it likely violated the First Amendment (see Ref:2408160015]), though Bonta disagreed (see 2407170046). The new case number for the 9th Circuit appeal is 25-2366.
NetChoice did not respond to a request for comment.