NetChoice v. Bonta

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In December 2022, NetChoice sued to enjoin and invalidate California’s AB 2273 to defend the First Amendment and the privacy of families online. Our complaint explained:

• The state of California is violating the First Amendment by telling sites how to manage constitutionally protected speech, not how to secure sensitive data about children. It echoes similar violations in Texas and Florida’s anti-bias laws for failing to honor the First Amendment.
• Additionally, AB 2733 violates the First Amendment because it deputizes online services “to act as roving Internet censors at the state’s behest”, compels speech, violates editorial discretion, and is overly vague and broad.
• AB 2273 undermines children’s privacy by forcing sites, regardless of how secure they are, to track and store information identifying which users are children. Child predators and hackers will be drawn to less secure sites as goldmines for children’s sensitive data.
• By ignoring the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, California conflicts with existing federal laws like COPPA that already work to protect kids online nationwide. 
• Parents and guardians are best suited to decide how their families will have an online presence. AB 2273 takes away that freedom and puts it into the hands of the state. 
• The act violates the Fourth Amendment by forcing sites to reveal private internal communications.

With press inquiries, please contact Krista Chavez at press@netchoice.org.