SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — Netchoice has filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleging the state's Age Appropriate Design Code Act is unconstitutional.
Netchoice LLC filed a complaint Dec. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging First Amendment violations and other claims.
Netchoice alleges in its complaint that California's Age Appropriate Design Code Act (AB 2273) is unconstitutional, causes "content-based restriction on speech" and forces online business to "over-moderate" and restrict information for users. Netchoice specifically alleges that AB 2273 actually harms minors and places "draconian penalties" to online businesses and pressures the companies to "serve as roving censors" to internet speech by requiring them to verify the age of their users.
Netchoice argues in its suit that AB 2273 does not clearly define "material detriment," "harm," or "harmful" content. It further claims that the law's definition of online content that is "likely to be accessed by children" is "vague" and "limitless," and does not clearly name what subject manner particularly as it relates to a site's advertisements. Netchoice also alleges that age verification technologies are not reliable in identifying user and that the law violates the First and Fourteenth amendments while placing "extraordinary" burdens on businesses that would "fundamentally" change the internet.
Netchoice seeks monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. It is represented by Adam Sieff of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California San Jose Division case number 5:22-CV-08861