Silicon Valley, Hollywood Tussle Over California Online Age-Check Bill

A bill to require device makers, app stores and online platforms to verify users’ ages passed the California legislature last month with overwhelming bipartisan support, including a 58-0 vote in favor in the state Assembly. It also has the support of major Silicon Valley tech companies, including Meta and Google, who view bill as more balanced than similar measures in other states. But according to Politico, eleventh-hour opposition from Hollywood is complicating what was supposed to be an easy bipartisan win for Newsom.

The Motion Picture Association, representing the major Hollywood studios, is now urging Newsom to veto the measure, claiming it could undermine existing safety protocols such as child-friendly profiles on streaming services. Netflix, an early adopter of parental streaming controls, has been especially concerned over the bill, per Politico.

 “Right now, the entertainment industry is in a bit of a recession. Silicon Valley is not,” Los Angeles-based consultant and former advisor to President Biden said. “So you do have to be careful about doing anything that further harms the entertainment industry.”

Newsom, who has strong ties to both Silicon Valley and Hollywood, has yet to indicate whether he will sign the measure.

“He’s been a great partner for me on keeping kids safe online, and I think is someone who cares a lot about this,” the bill’s author, Oakland Assembly member Buffy Wicks, said of governor. “But obviously it’ll be his call at the end of the day.”

The California bill is a product of months of tense negotiations among lawmakers and stakeholders. Technology companies themselves have been divided over online age checks. Many opposed similar measures introduced in other states. But Meta had pushed bills in some states that would require app stores to perform the checks, putting the burden on Google and Apple.

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In the end, however, the Facebook and Instagram parent, along with dozens of other online services and technology companies, came to view the California bill as a balanced model that could be replicated in statehouses around the country, according to Politico. But the last-minute opposition from the entertainment industry has thrown a wrench into those hopes.

In a letter sent to state senators in September, the MPA raised a litany of complaints with the measure and included proposed amendments. Key among the studios’ demands was a blanket exemption for streaming services.

After the Senate passed the bill anyway, the studios took their complaints directly to Newsom.
“Unfortunately, the Bill is not drafted to improve children’s safety—and in fact, it creates substantial challenges for responsible actors,” the MPA wrote in the September letter to the governor, per Politico.

Common Sense Media CEO and founder Jim Steyer, whose kids’ safety nonprofit is backing Wicks’ bill, told Politico he has received calls from entertainment companies concerned about age verification requirements.”

“Some of the Hollywood people don’t like it,” Steyer said. “Having said it: it’s coming. So get used to it.”