Passing 'Kids Code,' California Paves Way for Safer Digital World for US Children

Children's rights advocates on Tuesday expressed hope that a new online protection bill passed in California will set a new standard for the U.S. and urged Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to make more than two million kids safer by signing the legislation into law.

"California is not only setting the standard for children who live in the tech sector's backyard, but it also paves the way for the rest of the United States and for the world."

The California Age Appropriate Design Code Bill (A.B. 2273) passed unanimously in the state Senate Monday evening after sailing through the state Assembly without opposition. If made into law, it would be the first in the country to require tech companies to install protections for young users, even if their sites or products are designed for adult use.

A.B. 2273, which advocates call Kids Code, would require all apps and websites that are "likely to be accessed" by children to design their products with child safety in mind and to "prioritize the privacy, safety, and wellbeing of children" over profits.

If Newsom signs the bill, tech companies would be compelled to analyze whether their products could expose children to explicit or inappropriate content or put children's privacy in jeopardy.

Tech companies would be required to make the highest-possible privacy settings the default for users under 18 and would be barred from collecting data about children's precise locations.

The bill is modeled on the United Kingdom's Age Appropriate Design Code, also called the Children's Code, which was passed in 2021. That bill was credited with pushing popular social media companies to make accounts private by default for users under 18.

"The news from California is a ringing endorsement of the U.K.'s approach to protecting children online," said Beeban Kidron, founder of 5Rights Foundation, which worked to develop the Children's Code. "With this bill, California is not only setting the standard for children who live in the tech sector's backyard, but it also paves the way for the rest of the United States and for the world. The prominence of California in the global tech community makes this a major step forward."

The legislation was overwhelmingly approved by California lawmakers despite aggressive lobbying against its provisions by the state Chamber of Commerce and groups representing Amazon, Apple, Pinterest, and Facebook, who have claimed the bill is too broad, will burden tech giants with design regulations, and should apply only to children under age 16 instead of all users under 18.

State Assembly member Buffy Wicks (D-15), who authored A.B. 2273, expressed hope that after the bill is signed into law, it will "be replicated by other states, and countries more widely across the globe."

"We've seen from the U.K. Code that tech can be regulated, and I hope that with A.B. 2273 we will now see this change in California too," said Wicks in a statement. "Children deserve to be protected wherever they are in the world, whether that's offline or online."

The bill's passage follows public outcry over Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's plan to launch a version of Instagram for children, even amid reports that the app has targeted teenage girls with images of self-harm and eating disorders. Google and TikTok have also been ordered to pay hefty fines in recent years over charges that they collected children's personal data without parental consent and turned a profit by then targeting them with ads.

Under the Kids Code, said children's advocacy group Fairplay for Kids, "millions of California kids and teens will get to experience a safer and healthier digital world that doesn't exploit their vulnerabilities."

Carrie Goldberg, a personal injury lawyer who has fought cases involving online exploitation of children and other abuses by tech companies, called the passage of the Kids Code "huge news" and called on other state lawmakers to build on the legislation, passing a "private right of action so kids... can sue for harmful design."

"The most harmful products simply won't be able to adjust enough to keep kids safe," said Goldberg. "And yes, risk being enjoined out of existence. That's a good thing!"