In a lengthy hearing Tuesday in front of Vermont's House Commerce and Economic Committee, lawmakers weighed testimony from concerned parents, youth and other advocates of a kids code bill. However, the tech industry opposed the bill for privacy and First Amendment reasons.
Recent rulings in litigation over the constitutionality of laws aiming to protect children online will serve as examples for other states' future attempts to regulate the area of what works and what doesn't, said Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, IAPP managing director for Washington, D.C., in a blog post Friday.
NetChoice urged the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee Tuesday to follow the recent decision in NetChoice, LLC v. Griffin and grant a preliminary injunction against a law requiring age verification before accessing social media accounts (see 2504010044).
Judges for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared to side with California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) during oral argument in NetChoice v. Bonta Wednesday in what Judge Ryan Nelson called “a very complicated case” over a state law that makes it illegal for addictive internet-based services and applications to provide an addictive feed to a user younger than 18 unless the operator does not know that the user is a minor.
The U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas ruled Monday in favor of tech trade association NetChoice, permanently enjoining an Arkansas social media safety act as unconstitutional. The court said the age-verification law violated the First and 14th Amendments.
A group of Texas lawmakers warned about potential internet harm for minors during a hearing on a pair of kids online safety bills in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday.
NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) refiled a lawsuit Friday against Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) over HB-3, which the groups allege violates the First Amendment and puts cybersecurity and privacy risks on state residents. The same day at another federal district court, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) sought to dismiss a separate NetChoice lawsuit against the Maryland Age-Appropriate Design Code (MAADC) Act.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) asked the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee on Monday again to deny NetChoice's preliminary injunction against a law requiring age verification to access social media accounts. Skrmetti argued the association's notice of supplemental authority concerns an unrelated data privacy law.
Oral argument is scheduled for April 2 at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in NetChoice, LLC v. Bonta. Case 25-146 concerns California’s 2024 law (SB-976) that places restrictions on social media feeds for minors. These restrictions pose privacy and security risks, consumer privacy advocates say (see 2502070019).
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) urged the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee on Friday to deny NetChoice’s request for a preliminary injunction on a bill requiring age verification to access social media accounts following the decision in CCIA & NetChoice v. Uthmeier (see 2503170061). NetChoice responded Tuesday, asking the court to grant the preliminary injunction and enjoin the AG from enforcing HB-1891, as the ruling in the Uthmeier case “has no bearing here.”