A key part of California’s online safety law for kids is still on hold after appeals court ruling

A federal appeals court in California upheld part of a district court ruling that blocked a landmark online safety bill for children from taking effect. The panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals objected to a portion of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act — specifically, a requirement that online businesses “opine on and mitigate the risk that children may be exposed to harmful or potentially harmful materials online.” The rule “facially violates the First Amendment,” the appeals court concluded. As a result, it’s upholding a preliminary injunction on that portion of the law and related aspects. But it sent another part of the law back to the lower court to reconsider and vacated the rest of the preliminary injunction, saying it was unclear if the rest of the law violated the First Amendment.