Calif. AG Expects Lower Court Will Stay Social Media Case Pending His Appeal

Further proceedings in the district court “will likely be stayed” pending the resolution of California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s (D) interlocutory appeal of the lower court's Sept. 18 decision granting NetChoice’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Bonta from enforcing AB-2273, the state’s Age Appropriate Design Code, said Bonta’s mediation question Friday (docket 23-2969) in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The main issues on appeal are whether online businesses’ collection and use of children’s data is protected speech under the First Amendment, whether the district court “correctly applied scrutiny to the provisions it analyzed” under the First Amendment, and whether the district court “correctly applied California severability principles in determining that the law was not severable,” said the questionnaire. Bonta’s opening brief in his appeal is due Nov. 15 (see 2310260013).