
On September 18, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted technology trade association NetChoice, LLC’s request for a Preliminary Injunction in NetChoice LLC v. Bonta, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA), which the California Legislature passed last year. In granting the Preliminary Injunction, the court found that the law’s restrictions on commercial speech likely violate the First Amendment.
Drawing inspiration from the UK Age-Appropriate Design Code, the CAADCA regulates covered businesses and their practices with respect to the collection, storage, and processing of personal data collected from children under the age of 18. CAADCA requires that the most restrictive default privacy settings be implemented for younger users and that any community standards, terms of service, and privacy settings be freely accessible and enforced. Following the September 18 ruling, the future of the CAADCA is uncertain. At the very least, the CAADCA is unlikely to be enforced on its intended effective date of July 1, 2024, as the injunction remains in place throughout the course of litigation.