SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a new bill into law, SB 976, that will fail to protect a single Californian from harm online.
Rather than try to find effective and constitutional solutions to help Californians and their families stay safe online, it is unfortunate to see the state’s government yet again follow a deeply flawed path that violates its citizens’ rights.
“SB 976 violates the First Amendment rights of both companies and Californians, while endangering children’s cybersecurity. This new law controls how websites organize and distribute content in a similar way to rules struck down in recent Supreme Court cases like NetChoice v. Moody and Reno v. ACLU,” said Amy Bos, NetChoice Director of State and Federal Affairs. “The new law also puts children at a severe risk for cybersecurity violations. It requires users to hand over vast amounts of sensitive information just to access information on services, creating a massive honeypot of private data for digital criminals.”
Bos continued: “It is unfortunate to see Gov. Newsom sign onto yet another flawed path like SB 976 that will fail to protect a single person online. There are better, effective ways to achieve these goals without violating Californians’ rights.”
Read more about NetChoice’s opposition to SB 976 here.
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.