Gavin Newsom Fucks Over The Open Internet, Signs Disastrously Stupid Age Appropriate Design Code
This isn't a surprise, but it's still frustrating. Gavin Newsom, who wants to be President some day, and thus couldn't risk misleading headlines that he didn't protect the children," has now signed AB 2273 into law (this follows on yesterday's decision to sign the bad, but slightly less destructive, AB 587 into law). At this point there's not much more I can say about why AB 2273 is so bad. I've explained why it's literally impossible to comply with (and why many sites will just ignore it). I've explained how it's pretty clearly unconstitutional. I've explained how the whole idea was pushed for and literally sponsored by a Hollywood director / British baroness who wants to destroy the internet. I've explained how it won't do much, if anything, to protect children, but will likely put them at much greater risk. I've explained how the company it will likely benefit most is the world's largest porn company - not to mention COVID disinfo peddlers and privacy lawyers. I've explained how the companies supporting the law insist that we shouldn't worry because websites will just start scanning your face when you visit.
None of that matters, though.
Because, in this nonsense political climate where moral panics and culture wars are all that matter in politics, politicians are going to back laws that claim to protect the children," no matter how much of a lie that is.
Newsom, ever the politician, did the political thing here. He gets his headlines pretending he's protecting kids.
We're taking aggressive action in California to protect the health and wellbeing of our kids," said Governor Newsom. As a father of four, I'm familiar with the real issues our children are experiencing online, and I'm thankful to Assemblymembers Wicks and Cunningham and the tech industry for pushing these protections and putting the wellbeing of our kids first."
The press release includes a quote from Newsom's wife, who is also a Hollywood documentary filmmaker, similar to the baroness.
As a parent, I am terrified of the effects technology addiction and saturation are having on our children and their mental health. While social media and the internet are integral to the way we as a global community connect and communicate, our children still deserve real safeguards like AB 2273 to protect their wellbeing as they grow and develop," said First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. I am so appreciative of the Governor, Assemblymember Cunningham, and Assemblymember Wicks' leadership and partnership to ensure tech companies are held accountable for the online spaces they design and the way those spaces affect California's children."
Except that the bill does not create real safeguards" for children. It creates a massive amount of busywork to try to force companies to dumb down the internet, while also forcing intrusive age verification technologies on tons of websites.
It puts tremendous power in the hands of the Attorney General.
The bill doesn't go into effect until the middle of 2024 and I would assume that someone will go to court to challenge it, meaning that what this bill is going to accomplish in the short run is California wasting a ton of taxpayer dollars (just as Texas and Florida did) to try to pretend they have the power to tell companies how to design their products.
It's all nonsense grandstanding and Governor Newsom knows it, because I know that people have explained all this to him. But getting the headlines is more important than doing the right thing.