Several tech policy nonprofit organizations filed an amicus brief in the US District Court in Northern California on 1 March 2023 to defend the First Amendment rights of Internet users against California’s recently enacted Age Appropriate Design Code Act (AADC). IP Justice, the Chamber of Progress, and the LGBT Tech Institute joined together to submit an amicus brief in the case of NetChoice v. Rob Bonta (California Attorney General) arguing that the AADC violates the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantees and it harms underprivileged children who do not have access to critical Internet content.
The friend-of-the-court brief argued that the AADC requires Internet companies to police and censor speech on the Internet—to “mitigate” speech that is “harmful, or potentially harmful,” to children under 18 years of age and “prioritize” speech that promotes their “well-being” and “best interests.” Amici explained that AADC requires the California Attorney General to seek financial penalties from companies that fail to do so or do not adequately enforce their own content and privacy policies. “However well-intentioned, the AADC violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by impermissibly interfering with editorial discretion, chilling speech, and granting the State unlimited authority to define and enforce the Act’s vague requirements,” the brief stated.