Maybe Gavin Newsom could try helping the quality of life of his constituents rather than just punish them in a moral panic.
The package of new legislation is not without critics. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF), a non-profit focused on digital privacy and free speech, argues that AB 1709 is a “functional ban on social media use” for users under 16.
“California should be passing laws to ensure that technology really works for people of all ages, not enacting social media bans that cut young people off from digital lifelines, communities and speech,” Rindala Alajaji, the EFF associate director of state affairs, said in a statement.
“Denying minors access to digital forums – or stripping out basic tools needed to navigate them – is not going to help make young people safer or healthier in the AI age.”
I don’t think this bill would force us to gather driver’s licenses to let people use awful.systems, but depending on the regulations promulgated by the state later, it potentially could. Mastodon is more likely to be hit than Lemmy, since it offers “infinite scroll” and “like counts”, which are features that politicians have decided are Satanic.
