Students on their cell phones on a crisp and clear Tuesday morning outside of the Oviatt Library at CSUN on March 5, 2024.
The law is opposed by several tech industry groups — including Chamber of Progress, TechNet, and NetChoice. They argue that it will result in a flurry of litigation and cause social media companies to censor more content, thereby infringing on children’s First Amendment right to access information online.
If passed, the bill would apply to platforms with more than $100 million in annual profits and would allow courts to impose financial damages ranging from a set $5,000 per violation, to $1 million per child.Fred Whittaker, chairman of the Republican Party in Orange County, is a fierce supporter of the bill and spoke in favor of it at an Assembly Standing Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection meeting last month.
“Large companies love regulation. They have a phalanx of lawyers and compliance officers who then lobby their regulators and then become their own experts for their own regulators,” he said.