Appeals Court Blocks Part of California’s Online Child Safety Law Due to Free Speech Concerns

A federal appeals court has upheld data privacy-related provisions of California’s online child safety law, while striking down those that required tech companies to assess and mitigate risks of harmful content to children, finding that these provisions likely violate the First Amendment. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Aug. 16 that upholds those parts of California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AB 2273) that restrict the collection, use, and sale of children’s personal data, as well as those that prohibit the tracking of children’s geolocation, seeing them as necessary protection for children’s privacy online. The appeals court struck down provisions that required companies to assess and mitigate risks related to harmful content, as well as those that required companies to prioritize content deemed to be in the “best interests” of children, holding that these would likely violate free speech rights....