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Ninth Circuit Agrees to Halt California’s Censorship and Surveillance Law in Full on NetChoice Appeal

SAN FRANCISCO—Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted NetChoice’s request for a full stay to halt California’s latest online censorship and surveillance law, SB 976, from going into effect while our case, NetChoice v. Bonta (2024), proceeds. 

The Ninth Circuit will hear NetChoice v. Bonta in April 2025

We are grateful that the Ninth Circuit agreed to halt SB 976 in its entirety while our case proceeds. This law has serious implications for Californians’ First Amendment and digital privacy rights. NetChoice looks forward to stopping yet another online censorship regime from California’s government,” said Paul Taske, NetChoice Associate Director of Litigation.

Read the Ninth Circuit’s ruling granting NetChoice a full stay pending appeal here. Learn more about NetChoice v. Bonta (2024) here.

Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries. 

Top Takeaways of NetChoice v. Bonta (2024):

  1. Tramples Over Free Speech: SB 976 disregards the First Amendment because it conditions Californians’ right to access protected speech online on whether they hand over their sensitive, personal data. 
  2. Mandates the Surveillance of Families Online: The government is mandating that companies verify identities just to access an online service, verify parental information at multiple levels if applicable, and collect massive amounts of data on how a young Californian is using that service. Online businesses are additionally required by law to store this data and report it to the government regularly. This is a backdoor requirement for online surveillance by California’s government. 
  3. Risks all Californians’ safety and security online: SB 976 will create a honeypot of sensitive information that will be a prime target for cybercriminals and predators to attack and exploit. It harms the security of all internet users, especially minors, which already suffer as prime targets of data breaches and identity theft. Ransomware attacks affected 2.9 million American students in 2023, an increase of over 144% from the previous year. This law will make it worse. 
  4. Gives partial treatment to exempt the government’s favored companies: The unequal compliance and enforcement standards of SB 976 reveal the true nature of the law: it isn’t about protecting kids online—it’s about punishing politically disfavored businesses like social media companies and major channels where Americans access information and engage in speech.