By Jonathan Stempel
March 12 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out much of an injunction that had blocked California from enforcing a state law meant to shield children from social media and other online content that could harm them mentally or physically.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the trade group NetChoice was unlikely to prove that the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act was unconstitutional on its face, violating the First Amendment rights of members such as Amazon.com, Google, Meta Platforms, Netflix and Elon Musk’s X by turning them into censors.
California has said the 2022 law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom would serve its compelling interest in protecting children from bullying, harassment, sexual exploitation and other harms.
Circuit Judge Milan Smith wrote for a three-judge appeals court panel that it was reasonable for businesses to expect children to access their online platforms, adding that the California law applied “evenhandedly” by covering platforms “likely to be accessed by children.”
The Pasadena, California-based panel also said NetChoice was unlikely to show that requiring businesses to estimate the ages of child users was invalid on its face.
It nonetheless agreed with NetChoice that the law’s restrictions on businesses using personal data that could harm children’s physical health, mental health or well-being, and employing “dark patterns” to collect that data, were too vague to be enforced.
The law defines “dark patterns” as user interfaces designed or manipulated to subvert or impair user autonomy, decision-making or choice.
NETCHOICE TO PRESS OPPOSITION
California had been appealing a March 2025 injunction by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California.
The appeals court had partially upheld an earlier injunction by Freeman against the California law in August 2024, before NetChoice brought its facial challenge. It returned the case to Freeman for further proceedings.
Paul Taske, a lawyer for NetChoice, in a statement said “We look forward to making a full showing and striking down California’s Speech Code permanently.”
Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general, called Thursday’s decision a “critical win” in making social media safe for children.
“Let me be clear: our kids’ safety cannot wait, and we won’t let tech giants profit off our children,” Bonta said in a statement.
The California law also required businesses to create reports about their online platforms’ threat to children, and take steps before launch to reduce the risks. Civil fines could reach $2,500 per child for negligence and $7,500 per child for intentional violations.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, William Maclean and Aurora Ellis)
