What are the Novel California Laws on Kids and Social Media and Why is the Industry Pouring In Lawsuits Against the Laws?

California lawmakers presented online children's privacy laws last year with the aim of regulating the ways in which the social media world treats minors.

The measure was heralded by many children's groups in the United States. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California expressed, “We’re taking aggressive action in California to protect the health and well-being of our kids.”

Everything was going fine until last month when a tech industry group filed a lawsuit against the laws. TikTok and Meta were also members of the group. On this, the law got locked by a federal judge in California preliminary, with a view that it actually violates the First Amendment.

The decision of the judge worked as fuel for governors, parents, children's groups, and lawmakers across the United States to expect curbing of the attraction the social media platforms provide to teens and children. The decision proved to be a setback to all these expectants.

ALSO READ: Minimum Wage Increased from 2024 Onwards in New York

In the month of August, something similar happened when a federal judge in Arkansas blocked a new law temporarily. The law actually needed some social media platforms to verify their users' ages and receive parental consent prior to permitting minors to create their accounts on the sites.

Not to miss, a Texas federal judge also temporarily blocked a novel anti-porn law that restricted access to the content of the site considered harmful to people under the majority age. The law demanded that sites that are sexually explicit clearly verify that their users are of the age of majority or more than that and also showcase the right health warnings before the users view the content.

A few officials and legislators who backed the new porn-age verification and social media laws stated that all they expected was to hit temporary roadblocks. In the decade of 1990s and 2000s, similar laws that aimed at shielding children from the hazards of the online world were overturned by the Supreme Court, with a view that such laws could actually hinder young people from accessing a majority section of the internet.

However, the legislators of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act played a smart move, as the law does not require these sites to conduct age verification. All the law demands is online services to construct their apps and sites in such a way that it minimizes potential risks for minors.

The Executive Director of Fairplay for Kids, a non-profit group, Josh Golin, expressed by saying, “It’s concerning that as children’s advocates, we’re so outgunned just to get legislation passed, and then to have the judge side with more well-financed industry arguments.”

ALSO READ: New Rules for Foster Care and Additional Protection for LGBTQ+ Children! Here's Everything To Know

ALSO READ: Why has the United States sued Amazon for "illegal monopoly"? Here's everything you need to know!