California Attorney General Pushes to Uphold State's Age-Appropriate Design Code

On December 13, 2023,  California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in defense of California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta seeks to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking the law from going into effect. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the preliminary injunction on September 18, 2023, and Attorney General Bonta filed a notice of appeal on October 18, 2023. 

The California law is a first in the nation that is aimed at safeguarding children online, and the Attorney General’s appeal seeks to overturn a district court decision that preliminarily enjoined the law in response to a lawsuit brought by an online trade association representing numerous technology companies. 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. The act also prohibits certain actions that involve the collection and use of that information.

The California law was modeled after the United Kingdom’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which similarly requires that websites likely to be accessed by children provide privacy protections by default. The California Legislature unanimously passed the law. 

Attorney General Bonta's brief argues that the Ninth Circuit should overturn the district court’s ruling, which would block enforcement of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, because the Act does not regulate speech or infringe on businesses’ rights.  A copy of the brief can be found here.