California Age Appropriate Design Legislation
Every day children are exposed to a digital world that was designed by and for adults, where they are nudged to give up their privacy and exposed to risky people and content.
There's a new bill in the California State Assembly called the California Age Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273) whose aim is to protect children from this.
The name of the bill caught my interest because on first hearing it appears to legislate design itself, but in this case the definition is “how it works” not “what it looks like”.
Parents intuitively understand the risks of letting their children use digital media without restrictions, but often struggle with specific problems or solutions beyond limiting access entirely.
Here are examples of some of the problems the law will address:
EXAMPLE. Large social platforms like Facebook require users to be at least 13 years old, but the age limit is not enforced. Much of the content on the platforms is not suitable for 13 year olds, but not age-gated.
EXAMPLE. Users of social media platforms like Instagram regularly post selective, idealized versions of themselves. There is a known connection between this type of representation, and distraction and anxiety when viewers compare their REAL selves to what they see in their feeds. Especially for teens.
EXAMPLE. The terms of use for social media are often set by default to maximum legal data collection. This is not obvious to young users. Many ADULTS can't understand the terms of service, so how can a 13 year old consent to them?
If the bill becomes a law, it go into effect in California starting July 2024.
The law will require that companies prioritize the safety and privacy of children in California by default and in the design of their products.
For example, default settings for users under 18 must now be set to the highest privacy level.
With this law, California is aspiring to lead the way in making the digital world safe for American children ahead of broader national bills like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Teens Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) which are ready for a Senate vote.
It makes sense for California to act independently because national regulation could take awhile, or not happen at all given the current low-functional state of the U.S. Congress.
But one can (and should) hope.
Several episodes of the podcast Your Undivided Attention (by the Center for Humane Technology) have covered the issue, and you can get a good primer on the issues at their website here:
https://www.humanetech.com/insights/why-the-california-age-appropriate-design-code-is-groundbreaking
