California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed into law a bipartisan bill geared towards "protecting children's wellbeing, data, and privacy when using online platforms" such as social media. California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act or AB 2273 was drawn up by Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and Republican Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham.
Describing the new children's online safety bill as an "aggressive action" in order to protect kids online, Gov. Newsom said in a press release that the bipartisan bill "requires online platforms to consider the best interest of child users and to default to privacy and safety settings that protect children's mental and physical health and wellbeing."
New California Children's Online Safety Bill Places Responsibility on Tech Companies
Gov. Newsom's newly signed children's online safety bill places limits on the type of data tech companies collect on their users who are minors and sets the highest default privacy settings for underage users. AB 2273 also requires that tech companies providing online services must not collect data such as names, addresses, and geolocations, nor must they encourage children to disclose sensitive personal data.
Back in 1998, the Children's Privacy Protection Act established protections for the privacy of those under the age of 13 who use services geared towards children. The recently passed California children's online safety bill expands on this legislation to provide more robust protections for children, Axios reported. The report added that the state is the first in America to establish a children's online safety bill, which many states would likely use as a template for similar laws and which had been lobbied against by tech companies such as TikTok, Snap, Twitter, Google, and Amazon even before Gov. Newsom signed it into law.
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Tech Industry Criticizes California's Children's Online Safety Bill as Rights Group Applauds Governor
Rights groups and parental groups see the passing of California's children's online safety bill as a win for the protection of kids online as it seeks to hold tech companies accountable for their actions and for ensuring a child's safety while using apps and platforms. Parental review company Common Sense Media said via its CEO Jim Steyer that the bill is "a very important step" in protecting children in California and across the US, The Hill reported.
However, digital rights groups are criticizing the California bill, arguing that because it requires tech companies to identify their child users, this may lead to the violation of users' privacy. Fight For the Future, a nonprofit advocacy group for digital rights, argued that the bill was "so vaguely and broadly written" that it will allow "more surveillance" in the guise of protecting users' privacy, Engadget reported. They insisted that age verification, which requires inputting one's age or birthday, is a violation of "freedom of expression," especially for journalists, activists, and whistleblowers.
California's newly established children's online safety bill comes amidst bipartisan efforts to hold tech companies accountable for the protection of minors when using social media platforms and apps. Just this summer, the Senate Commerce Committee advanced the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act amidst broad support from both Democratic and Republican leaders, the Washington Post reported.
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