Kids Code Advocate Pans Ruling to Enjoin Calif. Law as 'Extreme'
In a win for trade association NetChoice, on Thursday the U.S. District Court for Northern California granted a preliminary injunction against California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA), which aims to protect the privacy and safety of children online. The injunction enjoins California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and his office from enforcing the act. Judge Beth Labson Freeman said the definition of coverage in CAADCA was content-based and violated the First Amendment.
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"Taking these provisions directly from a law enacted in the United Kingdom, the California Legislature left it to the courts to pass the CAADCA through the filter of our First Amendment,” she said in the decision in case 22-08861.
NetChoice celebrated the decision as a win for protecting speech from government regulation, though the California DOJ said it is reviewing the order with plans to respond appropriately in court (see 2503130063).
“Judge Freeman’s decision is unfortunately yet another example of a judge relying on an extreme interpretation of the First Amendment to substitute her judgements for those of an elected legislature,” said the Kids Code Coalition in a statement following the announcement. “This decision is especially concerning because its logic would seem to render unconstitutional virtually any state law designed to protect children online. We hope that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will take a more measured and sensible approach to the law and overturn Judge Freeman’s decision, as it has in the past.”
In August 2024, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction on CAADCA, ruling it likely violated the First Amendment (see 2408160015). Bonta disagreed (see 2407170046). In oral argument on Jan. 23, however, Freeman appeared skeptical of NetChoice’s arguments (see 2501230046).