California's Proposed Law Could Change the Internet

upstart writes:

AB 2273 could be a sea change for online privacy:

Today, for better or worse, the Internet is a rather free range for children. Websites ask their users' ages, sure. But virtually anyone who came of age around the rise of the Internet can probably relate a time or 20 when they gave a false birthdate.

A California law now in the works might bring that world to a crashing halt.

AB 2273, or the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, promises to make the Internet safer for children-in part by tightening age verification. Its opponents instead believe that, in the process, AB 2273 could completely decimate the existing Internet as we know it.

[...] California wouldn't be the first jurisdiction to tighten age-related design standards for websites. AB 2273 explicitly cites an existing law in the United Kingdom, which expects websites to comply with a bespoke age-appropriate design code. (In fact, both bills share a backer, one Baroness Beeban Kidron, a campaigner for children's rights online.)

That U.K. law has already made ripples. YouTube disabled its autoplay feature for users under 18. Instagram started preventing adults from messaging under-18s who don't follow them. TikTok stopped sending under-18s push notifications after a certain point each evening.

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