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First Amendment · Section 230 · AI Liability Nerdy Skynet! June 09, 2026 |
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Coverage: 2026-06-02 through 2026-06-09 · 2 new developments this period |
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Techdirt |
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: CA’s AB 1856 Exempts Open Source But Expands Age-Gating Techdirt · 2026-06-03 CommentaryThis EFF-authored post analyzes California's AB 1856, a legislative amendment to AB 1043's age-bracketing regime, arguing that while a new open-source exemption reduces harm to that ecosystem, the bill unconstitutionally expands mandatory age-gating to browsers and websites in ways that threaten users' First Amendment speech rights, anonymity, and privacy. The post explains that the age-gating liability structure effectively pressures platforms into age verification even without explicitly requiring it, creating barriers to lawful speech by adults and minors alike. This is directly relevant to the newsletter's coverage of government-mandated platform regulation, compelled speech/disclosure requirements, and the constitutional limits on state laws conditioning access to online speech. Key point: AB 1856's expansion of California's age-bracketing regime to browsers and websites compounds the constitutional harms of AB 1043 by imposing a liability structure that coerces invasive age verification, threatening users' anonymous access to lawful online speech in ways that implicate both First Amendment and anonymity doctrine. |
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In NetChoice V. Murrill, The Copia Institute Asks The Fifth Circuit Not To Keep Ignoring The First Amendment Techdirt · 2026-06-05 CommentaryThis post covers the Copia Institute's amicus brief filed in NetChoice v. Murrill, a Fifth Circuit challenge to Louisiana's social media age-gating law, arguing that such laws violate the First Amendment rights of minors and adults alike by requiring identity verification that destroys online anonymity and imposes privacy harms. The post situates the case within the broader pattern of Fifth Circuit rulings hostile to First Amendment challenges to platform regulation — including NetChoice v. Paxton, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, and CCIA v. Paxton — and invokes Moody v. NetChoice as controlling precedent the Fifth Circuit has repeatedly resisted applying. The brief raises compelled speech, anonymity, and overbreadth arguments that are directly relevant to the newsletter's tracking of state social media regulation, online anonymity doctrine, and the ongoing NetChoice litigation on remand. Key point: The Copia Institute's amicus argues that Louisiana's age-verification law is unconstitutional because conditioning platform access on identity disclosure destroys the First Amendment right to anonymous speech for all users, not just minors, and that the Fifth Circuit's repeated failure to apply controlling Supreme Court precedent in this space demands correction. |
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Sources: CourtListener API ·
All 13 federal circuit RSS feeds ·
All 50 state supreme courts + intermediate appellate courts (8 states)
via Justia ·
Eric Goldman · Techdirt |