Here is the Computer & Communications Industry Association’s response to a federal district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction today in NetChoice v. Bonta, a legal challenge to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. The judge found that this California statute likely violates the First Amendment. CCIA had filed an amicus brief in the case explaining that the AADC violates service providers’ rights as speakers and publishers.
This ruling may have a nationwide impact as Congress and some U.S. states consider passing or enforcing similar laws. Another federal judge recently found an Arkansas online parental consent law also likely violates the First Amendment.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Stephanie Joyce:
“CCIA is pleased that the court has recognized the core First Amendment principles at stake in the AADC and has put this harmful statute on hold until Plaintiff’s challenges can be fully reviewed. The statute contains many more problematic provisions, including compelled speech, that conflict with federal law and the vision our founders had for communications by and among private entities.”