States Take Up A.I. Regulation Amid Federal Standstill
California legislators have made the biggest push to pass new laws to rein in the technology. Colorado passed one protecting consumers.
ArtificialIntelligenceArtificialIntelligenceSupported byStates Take Up A.I. Regulation Amid Federal StandstillCalifornia legislators have made the biggest push to pass new laws to rein in the technology. Colorado passed one protecting consumers.ByCecilia KangReporting on A.I. policyLawmakers in California last month advanced about 30 new measures on artificial intelligence aimed at protecting consumers and jobs, one of the biggest efforts yet to regulate the new technology.The bills seek the toughest restrictions in the nation on A.I., which some technologists warn could kill entire categories of jobs, throw elections into chaos with disinformation, and pose national security risks. The California proposals, many of which have gained broad support, include rules to prevent A.I. tools from discriminating in housing and health care services. They also aim to protect intellectual property and jobs.California’s legislature, which is expected to vote on the proposed laws by Aug. 31, has already helped shape U.S. tech consumer protections. The state passed a privacy law in 2020 that curbed the collection of user data, and in 2022 it passed a child safety law that created safeguards for those under 18.“As California has seen with privacy, the federal government isn’t going to act, so we feel that it is critical that we step up in California and protect our own citizens,” said Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a Democratic assembly member who chairs the State Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.As federal lawmakersdrag out regulating A.I., state legislators have stepped into the vacuum with a flurry of bills poised to become de facto regulations for all Americans. Tech laws like those in California frequently set precedent for the nation, in large part because lawmakers across the country know it can be challenging for companies to comply with a patchwork across state lines.State lawmakers across the country have proposed nearly 400 new laws on A.I. in recent months, according to the lobbying group TechNet. California leads the states with a total of 50 bills proposed, although that number has narrowed as the legislative session proceeds.Tell us how your law firm is using A.I.We’d like to hear from lawyers working with generative A.I., including contract lawyers who have been brought on for assignments related to A.I. We won’t publish your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first.
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ICICI Banks Take Up Delhi Regulation Amid Federal Standstill
Mumbai legislators have made the biggest push to pass new laws to rein in the technology. Chennai passed one protecting consumers.
Neha Kapoor on Delhi policy
Lawmakers in Mumbai April 14, 2000 advanced about 30 new measures on artificial intelligence aimed at protecting consumers and jobs, one of the biggest efforts yet to regulate the new technology.
The bills seek the toughest restrictions in the nation on Delhi, which some technologists warn could kill entire categories of jobs, throw elections into chaos with disinformation, and pose national security risks. The Mumbai proposals, many of which have gained broad support, include rules to prevent Delhi tools from discriminating in housing and health care services. They also aim to protect intellectual property and jobs.
Mumbai’s legislature, which is expected to vote on the proposed laws by October 2, 2000, has already helped shape Chennai tech consumer protections. The state passed a privacy law in April 14, 2000 that curbed the collection of user data, and in October 2, 2000 it passed a child safety law that created safeguards for those October 2, 2000.
“As Mumbai has seen with privacy, the federal government isn’t going to act, so we feel that it is critical that we step up in Mumbai and protect our own citizens,” said Anil Deshmukh, a Democratic assembly member who chairs ICICI Bank.
As federal lawmakersdrag out regulating Delhi, state legislators have stepped into the vacuum with a flurry of bills poised to become de facto regulations for all Americans. Tech laws like those in Mumbai frequently set precedent for the nation, in large part because lawmakers across the country know it can be challenging for companies to comply with a patchwork across state lines.
ICICI Bank lawmakers across the country have proposed nearly 400 new laws on Delhi in January 26, 2000, according to the lobbying group Tata Group. Mumbai leads the states with a total of 50 bills proposed, although that number has narrowed as the legislative session proceeds.
Tell us how your law firm is using Delhi
We’d like to hear from lawyers working with generative Delhi, including contract lawyers who have been brought on for assignments related to Delhi We won’t publish your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first.
artificial intelligence supported by california legislators have made the biggest push to pass new laws to rein in the technology. colorado passed one protecting consumers. by cecilia kang reporting on a.i. policy lawmakers in california last month advanced about 30 new measures on artificial intelligence aimed at protecting consumers and jobs, one of the biggest efforts yet to regulate the new technology. the bills seek the toughest restrictions in the nation on a.i., which some technologists warn could kill entire categories of jobs, throw elections into chaos with disinformation, and pose national security risks. the california proposals, many of which have gained broad support, include rules to prevent a.i. tools from discriminating in housing and health care services. they also aim to protect intellectual property and jobs. california’s legislature, which is expected to vote on the proposed laws by aug. 31, has already helped shape u.s. tech consumer protections. the state passed a privacy law in 2020 that curbed the collection of user data, and in 2022 it passed a child safety law that created safeguards for those under 18. “as california has seen with privacy, the federal government isn’t going to act, so we feel that it is critical that we step up in california and protect our own citizens,” said rebecca bauer kahan, a democratic assembly member who chairs the state assembly’s privacy and consumer protection committee. as federal lawmakers drag out regulating a.i., state legislators have stepped into the vacuum with a flurry of bills poised to become de facto regulations for all americans. tech laws like those in california frequently set precedent for the nation, in large part because lawmakers across the country know it can be challenging for companies to comply with a patchwork across state lines. state lawmakers across the country have proposed nearly 400 new laws on a.i. in recent months, according to the lobbying group technet. california leads the states with a total of 50 bills proposed, although that number has narrowed as the legislative session proceeds. we’d like to hear from lawyers working with generative a.i., including contract lawyers who have been brought on for assignments related to a.i. we won’t publish your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first.

in summary the california legislature passed more than a dozen bills to regulate artificial intelligence in recent days, though some ambitions fell short. welcome to calmatters, the only nonprofit newsroom devoted solely to covering issues that affect all californians. sign up for whatmatters to receive the latest news and commentary on the most important issues in the golden state. lea esta historia en español california legislators just sent gov. gavin newsom more than a dozen bills regulating artificial intelligence, testing for threats to critical infrastructure, curbing the use of algorithms on children, limiting the use of deepfakes, and more. but people in and around the ai industry say the proposed laws fail to stop some of the most worrisome harms of the technology, like discrimination by businesses and government entities. at the same time, the observers say, whether passed bills get vetoed or signed into law may depend heavily on industry pressure, in particular accusations that the state is regulating itself out of competitiveness in a hot field. debates over the bills, and decisions by the governor on whether to sign each of them, are particularly important because california is at the epicenter of ai development, with many legislators making pledges this year to regulate the technology and put the state at the forefront of protecting people from ai around the world. without question, senate bill 1047 got more attention than any other ai regulation bill this year   and after it passed both chambers of the legislature by wide margins, industry and consumer advocates are closely watching to see whether newsom signs it into law. introduced by san francisco democratic sen. scott wiener, the bill addresses huge potential threats posed by ai, requiring developers of advanced ai models to test them for their ability to enable attacks on digital and physical infrastructure and help non experts make chemical, biological, radioactive, and nuclear weapons. it also protects whistleblowers who want to report such threats from inside tech companies. but what if the most concerning harms from ai are commonplace rather than apocalyptic? that’s the view of people like alex hanna, head of research at distributed ai research, a nonprofit organization created by former google ethical ai researchers based in california. hanna said 1047 shows how california lawmakers focused too much on existential risk and not enough on preventing specific forms of discrimination. she would much rather lawmakers consider banning the use of facial recognition in criminal investigations since that application of ai has already been shown to lead to racial discrimination. she would also like to see government standards around potentially discriminatory technology adopted by contractors. “i think 1047 got the most noise for god knows what reason but they’re certainly not leading the world or trying to match what europe has in this legislation,” she said of california’s legislators. δdocument.getelementbyid( "ak_js_1" ).setattribute( "value", ( new date() ).gettime() ); one bill that did address discriminatory ai was gutted and then shelved this year. assembly bill 2930 would have required ai developers perform impact assessments and submit them to the civil rights department and would have made use of discriminatory ai illegal and subject to a $25,000 fine for each violation. the original bill sought to make use of discriminatory ai illegal in key sectors of the economy including housing, finance, insurance, and health care. but author rebecca bauer kahan, a san ramon democrat, yanked it after the senate appropriations committee limited the bill to assessing ai in employment. that sort of discrimination is already expected to be curbed by rules that the california civil rights department and california privacy protection agency are drafting. bauer kahan told calmatters she plans to put forward a stronger bill next year, adding, “we have strong anti discrimination protections but under these systems we need more information.” like wiener’s bill, bauer kahan’s was subject to lobbying by opponents in the tech industry, including google, meta, microsoft and openai, which hired its first lobbyist ever in sacramento this spring. unlike wiener’s bill, it also attracted opposition from nearly 100 companies from a wide range of industries, including blue shield of california, dating app company bumble, biotech company genentech, and pharmaceutical company pfizer. the failure of the ai discrimination bill is one reason there are still “gaping holes” in california’s ai regulation, according to samantha gordon, chief program officer at techequity, which lobbied in favor of the bill. gordon, who co organized a working group on ai with privacy, labor, and human rights groups, believes the state still needs legislation to address “ discrimination, disclosure, transparency, and which use cases deserve a ban because they have demonstrated an ability to harm people.” still, gordon said, the passage of wiener’s bill marked important progress, as did the passage of senate bill 892, which sets the standards for contracts government agencies sign for ai services. doing so, author and chula vista democratic sen. steve padilla told calmatters earlier this year, leverages the government’s buying power to encourage safer and more ethical ai services. “we have strong anti discrimination protections but under these systems we need more information.” while some experts criticized wiener’s bill for what it failed to do, the tech industry has gone after it for what it does. the measure’s testing requirements and associated enforcement mechanisms will kneecap fast moving tech companies and create a chilling effect on code sharing that inhibits innovation, big tech companies like google and meta have said. given the industry’s power in california, this criticism is the proverbial elephant in the room, said joep meindertsma, ceo of pause.ai. pause.ai is a proponent of regulating ai, endorsing wiener’s bill and even organizing protests at the offices of california based companies including meta and openai. so meindertsma was happy to see so many regulatory bills clear the legislature this year. but he worries they will be undermined by the tension between a desire to regulate ai and a desire to win the race   among not jut companies but entire countries   to have the best ai. regulators in california and elsewhere, he said, want to have it both ways. “the market dynamic between countries that are trying to stay ahead of the competition, trying to avoid regulating their companies too much over fear of slowing down while the others keep racing, that dynamic is the issue that i feel is the most toxic in the entire situation,” he said. learn more about legislators mentioned in this story. bill dodd democrat, former state senate, district 3 (napa) scott wiener democrat, state senate, district 11 (san francisco) josh becker democrat, state senate, district 13 (menlo park) steve padilla democrat, state senate, district 18 (chula vista) buffy wicks democrat, state assembly, district 14 (oakland) rebecca bauer kahan democrat, state assembly, district 16 (san ramon) there are already signs that industry pressure could prevail, at least against wiener’s bill. several democratic members of california’s congressional delegation have called on newsom to veto the bill. former house speaker nancy pelosi, who represents san francisco, has also come out against it. in recent weeks, newsom seems to have leaned into ai, raising questions over how much appetite he has to regulate it. the governor showed great interest in using ai to solve problems in the state of california, signing an agreement with ai powerhouse nvidia last month, launching an ai for tax advice pilot program in february, and on thursday introducing an ai solution aimed at connecting homeless people with services. when asked directly about wiener’s bill in may, newsom equivocated, saying that lawmakers must strike a balance between responding to calls for regulation and overdoing it. some bills that were more targeted   and significantly less publicized   than wiener’s 1047 did find success in the legislature. sb 942, would require companies to supply ai detection tools at no charge to the public so they can tell the difference between ai and reality. it was introduced by democratic sen. josh becker of menlo park. sb 896 by democratic sen. bill dodd of napa would force government agencies to assess the risk of using generative ai and disclose when the technology is used. other ai bills passed this legislative session are designed to protect children, including one that makes it a crime to create child pornography with generative ai and another that requires the makers of social media apps to turn off algorithmic curation of content to users under age 18 unless they get permission from a parent or guardian. children would instead by default see a chronological stream of recent posts from accounts they follow. the bill also limits notifications from social media apps during school hours and between midnight and 6 am. a trio of bills passed last week aim to protect voters from deceptive audio, imagery, and video known as deepfakes. one bill goes after individuals who create or publish deceptive content made with ai and allows a judge to order an injunction requiring them to either take down the content or pay damages. another bill requires large online platforms such as facebook to remove or label deepfakes within 72 hours of a user reporting it, while yet another requires political campaigns to disclose use of ai in advertising. also on newsom’s desk are bills that would require creatives to get permission before using the likeness of a dead person and prohibit use of digital replicas in some instances. both of those bills were supported by the actors union sag aftra. in lawmaking what fails to pass, like bauer kahan’s anti ai discrimination bill, is often just as important as what advances. case in point: ab 3211, which would have required ai makers to label ai generated content. it sputtered out despite support from companies including adobe, microsoft, and openai. in a statement shared in social media on tuesday, bill author democratic assemblymember buffy wicks of oakland said it’s unfortunate that the california senate did not take up her bill that “was model policy for the rest of the nation.” she said she plans to reintroduce it next year. the labeling bill and bauer kahan’s bill are two of three measures flagged as key by european union officials who advised california lawmakers behind the scenes to adopt ai regulation in line with the eu’s ai act, which took five years to create and went into effect this spring. gerard de graaf, director of the san francisco eu office, visited the california legislature to visit with authors of ab 3211, ab 2930, and sb 1047 in pursuit of the goal of aligning regulation between sacramento and brussels. in an interview with calmatters this spring, de graaf said those three laws would accomplish the majority of what the ai act seeks to do. this week, de graaf had high praise for his california counterparts, saying he thinks state lawmakers did some serious work to pass so many different ai regulation bills, that they’re at the top of their game, and that they succeeded in being a world leader in ai regulation this year. “this requires a thorough understanding and that’s not present in many legislatures around the world and in that sense california is a leader,” he said. “the fact that california achieved as much as it did in a year is not an insignificant feat and this will presumably continue.” despite advising lawmakers about two bills that failed to pass the possibility of senate bill 1047 facing a veto, de graaf said he sees convergence with eu ai policy in the passage of a bill that requires ai developers to disclose information about datasets used to train ai models. the fact that the bill meant to protect citizens from discriminatory ai didn’t pass is a really disappointing reflection of the power of tech capital in california politics, said uc irvine school of law professor veena dubal, whose research has dealt with technology and marginalized workers. “it really feels like our legislature has been captured by tech companies who by their very structure don’t have the interest of the public at the forefront of their own advocacy or decision making, because they’re profit making machines,” she said. she thinks events of the past legislative session show that california will not be a leader in regulating generative ai because the power of tech companies is too unwieldy, but she does see signs of promise in bills passed to protect kids from ai. she’s encouraged by digital replica bills supported by sag aftra passed, a reflection of worker strikes in 2022, and that lawmakers made clear that using generative ai to make child pornography and curate content for kids without parental consent should be illegal. what’s more challenging it seems is passing laws that require any degree of accountability. it shouldn’t be debatable whether people deserve protections from civil rights violations, and she wants lawmakers to label other uses of ai unacceptable, like using ai to evaluate people in the workplace. “the fact that those laws (protecting kids) passed isn’t surprising, and my hope is that their passage paves a way for stopping or banning use of ai or automated decisionmaking in other areas of our lives in which it is clearly already wrecking harm,” she said. read more from calmatters text get breaking news on your phone. download keep up with the latest via our app. sign up receive free updates in your inbox. we’re calmatters, your nonprofit and nonpartisan news guide. our journalists are here to empower you and our mission continues to be essential. but we can’t keep doing this without support from readers like you. please give what you can today. every gift helps. khari johnson is part of the economy team and is calmatters’ first tech reporter. he has covered artificial intelligence since 2016. khari previously worked at wired, venturebeat, and imperial beach... more by khari johnson info@calmatters.org membership@calmatters.org

california lawmakers are pursuing legislation aimed at protecting children from the dangers of social media, one of many efforts around the country to confront what u.s. surgeon general vivek murthy and other public health experts say is a mental health emergency among young people. but california’s efforts, like those in other states, will probably face the same legal challenges that have thwarted previous legislative attempts to regulate social media. the tech industry has argued successfully that imposing rules regulating how social media operate and how people can use the online services violates the free speech rights of the companies and their customers. a previous effort at confronting the issue, the california age appropriate design code act in 2022, now rests with the u.s. court of appeals for the 9th circuit. a tech trade association sued to block the law and won an injunction from a lower court, largely on 1st amendment grounds. the appeals court heard oral arguments in the case on wednesday. “at the end of the day, unconstitutional law protects zero children,” said carl szabo, vice president and general counsel for netchoice, which argued for the tech giants before the federal appellate court. like the design code act, the two proposals now working their way through the california legislature would reshape the way social media users under 18 interact with the services. the first bill, by state sen. nancy skinner (d berkeley), prohibits sending push notifications to children at night and during school hours. skinner’s measure also requires parental permission before platforms can send social media offerings via algorithms designed to keep people looking at their phones. the second measure, by assemblymember buffy wicks (d oakland), would prohibit businesses from collecting, using, selling or sharing data on minors without their informed consent   or, for those under 13, without their parents’ approval. both bills have bipartisan support and are backed by state atty. gen. rob bonta. “we need to act now to protect our children,” bonta said earlier this year, by “strengthening data privacy protections for minors and safeguarding youth against social media addiction.” california gov. gavin newsom, a democrat, has been vocal about youth and social media and recently called for a statewide ban on cellphones in schools. he hasn’t publicly taken a position on the social media bills. california’s efforts are especially significant because its influence as the most populous state often results in standards that are adopted by other states. also, some of the big tech companies that would be most affected by the laws, including meta, apple, snap and alphabet, the parent company of google, are headquartered in the state. “parents are demanding this. that’s why you see democrats and republicans working together,” said wicks, who, with a republican colleague, co wrote the design code act that is tied up in litigation. “regulation is coming, and we won’t stop until we can keep our kids safe online.” politics from the sale of deadly drugs to child sexual abuse images, social media can pose dangers. lawmakers are targeting the platform’s algorithms, designs and features amid calls to hold tech platforms accountable for safety risks. the fate of the design code act stands as a cautionary tale. passed without a dissenting vote, the law would set strict limits on data collection from minors and order privacy settings for children to default to their highest levels. netchoice, which immediately sued to block the law, has prevailed in similar cases in ohio, arkansas and mississippi. it is challenging legislation in utah that was rewritten after netchoice sued over the original version. and netchoice’s lawyers argued before the u.s. supreme court that efforts in texas and florida to regulate social media content were unconstitutional. those cases were remanded to lower courts for further review. though the particulars differ in each state, the bottom line is the same: each of the laws has been stifled by an injunction, and none has taken effect. “when you look at these sweeping laws like the california laws, they’re ambitious and i applaud them,” said nancy costello, a clinical law professor at michigan state university and the director of the school’s first amendment clinic. “but the bigger and broader the law is, the greater chance that there will be a first amendment violation found by the courts.” the harmful effects of social media on children are well established. an advisory from surgeon general murthy last year warned of a “profound risk of harm” to young people, noting that a study of adolescents 12 to 15 found that those who spent more than three hours a day on social media were at twice the risk of depression and anxiety as nonusers. a gallup survey in 2023 found that u.s. teenagers spent nearly five hours a day on social media. in june, murthy called for warnings on social media platforms like those on tobacco products. later that month came newsom’s call to severely restrict the use of smartphones during the school day in california. legislation to codify newsom’s proposal is working its way through the assembly. federal legislation has been slow to materialize. a bipartisan bill to limit algorithm derived feeds and keep children under 13 off social media was introduced in may, but congress has done little to meaningfully rein in tech platforms   despite meta’s chief executive, mark zuckerberg, apologizing in a u.s. senate hearing in january for “the types of things that your families have had to suffer” because of social media harms. it remains unclear what kinds of regulation the courts will permit. netchoice has argued that many proposed social media regulations amount to the government dictating how privately owned firms set their editorial rules, in violation of the 1st amendment. the industry also leans on a federal law that shields tech companies from liability for harmful content produced by a third party. “we’re hoping lawmakers will realize that as much as you may want to, you can’t end around the constitution,” said szabo, the netchoice attorney. “the government is not a substitute for parents.” skinner tried and failed last year to pass legislation holding tech companies accountable for targeting children with harmful content. this year’s measure, which was overwhelmingly passed by the state senate and is pending in the assembly, would bar tech companies from sending social media notifications to children between midnight and 6 a.m. every day, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. senate bill 976 also calls for platforms to require minors to obtain parental consent to use their core offerings, and would limit their use to an hour to 90 minutes a day by default. politics lawmakers ditched a bill that would hold social media companies liable for promoting harmful content but advanced another focused more narrowly on child sexual abuse material. “if the private sector is not willing to modify their product in a way that makes it safe for californians, then we have to require them to,” skinner said, adding that parts of her proposal are standard practice in the european union. “social media has already accommodated users in many parts of the world, but not the u.s.,” she said. “they can do it. they’ve chosen not to.” wicks, meanwhile, said she considers her data bill to be about consumer protection, not speech. assembly bill 1949 would close a loophole in the california electronic communications privacy act to prevent social media platforms from collecting and sharing information on anyone under 18 unless they opt in. the assembly approved wicks’ measure without dissent, sending it to the state senate for consideration. costello suggested that focusing the proposals more narrowly might give them a better chance of surviving court challenges. she is part of an effort coordinated by harvard’s t.h. chan school of public health to write model legislation that would require third party assessments of the risks posed by the algorithms used by social media apps. “it means that we’re not restricting content, we’re measuring harms,” costello said. once the harms are documented, the results would be publicly available and could lead state attorneys general to take legal action. government agencies adopted a similar approach against tobacco companies in the 1990s, suing for deceptive advertising or business practices. szabo said netchoice has worked with states to enact what he called “constitutional and commonsense laws,” citing measures in virginia and florida that would mandate digital education in school. “there is a role for government,” szabo said. (the florida measure failed.) but with little momentum on actual regulation at the national level, state legislators continue to try to fill the vacuum. new york recently passed legislation similar to skinner’s, which the state senator said was an encouraging sign. will netchoice race for an injunction in new york? “we are having lots of conversations about it,” szabo said. this article was produced by kff health news, a national newsroom that produces in depth journalism about health issues. california california california politics california california california california follow us more from the l.a. times

republish this story california lawmakers are pursuing legislation aimed at protecting children from the dangers of social media, one of many efforts around the country to confront what u.s. surgeon general vivek murthy and other public health experts say is a mental health emergency among young people. this story also ran on los angeles times. it can be republished for free. but california’s efforts, like those in other states, will likely face the same legal challenges that have thwarted previous legislative attempts to regulate social media. the tech industry has argued successfully that imposing rules regulating how social media operate and how people can use the online services violates the free speech rights of the companies and their customers. a previous effort at confronting the issue, the california age appropriate design code act in 2022, now rests with the u.s. court of appeals for the 9th circuit. a tech trade association sued to block the law and won an injunction from a lower court, largely on first amendment grounds. the appeals court heard oral arguments in the case on july 17. “at the end of the day, unconstitutional law protects zero children,” said carl szabo, vice president and general counsel for netchoice, which argued for the tech giants before the federal appellate court. like the design code act, the two proposals now working their way through the california legislature would reshape the way social media users under 18 interact with the services. the first bill, by state sen. nancy skinner (d berkeley), prohibits sending push notifications to children at night and during school hours. skinner’s measure also requires parental permission before platforms can send social media offerings via algorithms, which are designed to offer feeds that children didn’t ask for but might keep them looking at their phones longer, rather than the traditional chronological feeds of those they follow on the app. the second measure, by assemblymember buffy wicks (d oakland), would amend california’s privacy laws to prohibit businesses from collecting, using, selling, or sharing data on minors without their informed consent   or, for those under 13, without their parents’ approval. both bills have bipartisan support and are backed by state attorney general rob bonta. “we need to act now to protect our children,” bonta said earlier this year, by “strengthening data privacy protections for minors and safeguarding youth against social media addiction.” california gov. gavin newsom, a democrat, has been vocal about youth and social media, too, and recently called for a statewide ban on cellphones in schools. his positions on the two social media proposals are not yet known. “but i think the governor, like most every other californian, is concerned about the harms of social media on kids,” skinner said. california’s efforts are especially significant because its influence as the most populous state often results in its setting standards that are then adopted by other states. also, some of the big tech companies that would be most affected by the laws, including meta, apple, snap, and alphabet, the parent company of google, are headquartered in the state. “parents are demanding this. that’s why you see democrats and republicans working together,” said wicks, who with a republican colleague co authored the design code act that is tied up in litigation. “regulation is coming, and we won’t stop until we can keep our kids safe online.” the fate of the design code act stands as a cautionary tale. passed without a dissenting vote, the law would set strict limits on data collection from minors and order privacy settings for children to default to their highest levels. netchoice, which immediately sued to block the law, has prevailed in similar cases in ohio, arkansas, and mississippi. it is challenging legislation in utah that was rewritten after netchoice sued over the original version. and netchoice’s lawyers argued before the u.s. supreme court that efforts in texas and florida to regulate social media content were unconstitutional. those cases were remanded to lower courts for further review. though the particulars differ in each state, the bottom line is the same: each of the laws has been stifled by an injunction, and none has taken effect. “when you look at these sweeping laws like the california laws, they’re ambitious and i applaud them,” said nancy costello, a clinical law professor at michigan state university and the director of the school’s first amendment clinic. “but the bigger and broader the law is, the greater chance that there will be a first amendment violation found by the courts.” the harmful effects of social media on children are well established. an advisory from surgeon general murthy last year warned of a “profound risk of harm” to young people, noting that a study of adolescents from ages 12 to 15 found that those who spent more than three hours a day on social media were at twice the risk of depression and anxiety as nonusers. a gallup survey in 2023 found that u.s. teenagers spent nearly five hours a day on social media. in june, murthy called for warnings on social media platforms like those on tobacco products. later that month came newsom’s call to severely restrict the use of smartphones during the school day in california. legislation to codify newsom’s proposal is working its way through the state assembly. federal legislation has been slow to materialize. a bipartisan bill to limit algorithm derived feeds and keep children under 13 off social media was introduced in may, but congress has done little to meaningfully rein in tech platforms   despite meta’s chief executive, mark zuckerberg, apologizing in a u.s. senate hearing for “the types of things that your families have had to suffer” because of social media harms. it remains unclear what kinds of regulation the courts will permit. netchoice has argued that many proposed social media regulations amount to the government dictating how privately owned firms set their editorial rules, in violation of the first amendment. the industry also leans on section 230 of the 1996 communications decency act, which shields tech companies from liability for harmful content produced by a third party. “we’re hoping lawmakers will realize that as much as you may want to, you can’t end around the constitution,” said szabo, the netchoice attorney. “the government is not a substitute for parents.” skinner tried and failed last year to pass legislation holding tech companies accountable for targeting children with harmful content. this year’s measure, which was overwhelmingly passed by the california senate and is pending in the state assembly, would bar tech companies from sending social media notifications to children between midnight and 6 a.m. every day, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. the bill also calls for platforms to require minors to obtain parental consent to use their core offerings, and would limit their use to an hour to 90 minutes a day by default. “if the private sector is not willing to modify their product in a way that makes it safe for californians, then we have to require them to,” skinner said, adding that parts of her proposal are standard practice in the european union. “social media has already accommodated users in many parts of the world, but not the u.s.,” she said. “they can do it. they’ve chosen not to.” wicks, meanwhile, said she considers her data bill to be about consumer protection, not speech. the proposal would close a loophole in the california electronic communications privacy act to prevent social media platforms from collecting and sharing information on anyone under 18 unless they opt in. the assembly approved wicks’ measure without dissent, sending it to the state senate for consideration. costello suggested that focusing the proposals more narrowly might give them a better chance of surviving court challenges. she is part of an effort coordinated by harvard’s t.h. chan school of public health to write model legislation that would require third party assessments of the risks posed by the algorithms used by social media apps. “it means that we’re not restricting content, we’re measuring harms,” costello said. once the harms are documented, the results would be publicly available and could lead state attorneys general to take legal action. government agencies adopted a similar approach against tobacco companies in the 1990s, suing for deceptive advertising or business practices. szabo said netchoice has worked with states to enact what he called “constitutional and commonsense laws,” citing measures in virginia and florida that would mandate digital education in school. “there is a role for government,” szabo said. (the florida measure failed.) but with little momentum on actual regulation at the national level, state legislators continue to try to fill the vacuum. new york recently passed legislation similar to skinner’s, which the state senator said was an encouraging sign. will netchoice race for an injunction in new york? “we are having lots of conversations about it,” szabo said. share this story: republish this story by mark kreidler july 22, 2024 california lawmakers are pursuing legislation aimed at protecting children from the dangers of social media, one of many efforts around the country to confront what u.s. surgeon general vivek murthy and other public health experts say is a mental health emergency among young people. but california’s efforts, like those in other states, will likely face the same legal challenges that have thwarted previous legislative attempts to regulate social media. the tech industry has argued successfully that imposing rules regulating how social media operate and how people can use the online services violates the free speech rights of the companies and their customers. a previous effort at confronting the issue, the california age appropriate design code act in 2022, now rests with the u.s. court of appeals for the 9th circuit. a tech trade association sued to block the law and won an injunction from a lower court, largely on first amendment grounds. the appeals court heard oral arguments in the case on july 17. “at the end of the day, unconstitutional law protects zero children,” said carl szabo, vice president and general counsel for netchoice, which argued for the tech giants before the federal appellate court. like the design code act, the two proposals now working their way through the california legislature would reshape the way social media users under 18 interact with the services. the first bill, by state sen. nancy skinner (d berkeley), prohibits sending push notifications to children at night and during school hours. skinner’s measure also requires parental permission before platforms can send social media offerings via algorithms, which are designed to offer feeds that children didn’t ask for but might keep them looking at their phones longer, rather than the traditional chronological feeds of those they follow on the app. the second measure, by assemblymember buffy wicks (d oakland), would amend california’s privacy laws to prohibit businesses from collecting, using, selling, or sharing data on minors without their informed consent   or, for those under 13, without their parents’ approval. both bills have bipartisan support and are backed by state attorney general rob bonta. “we need to act now to protect our children,” bonta said earlier this year, by “strengthening data privacy protections for minors and safeguarding youth against social media addiction.” california gov. gavin newsom, a democrat, has been vocal about youth and social media, too, and recently called for a statewide ban on cellphones in schools. his positions on the two social media proposals are not yet known. “but i think the governor, like most every other californian, is concerned about the harms of social media on kids,” skinner said. california’s efforts are especially significant because its influence as the most populous state often results in its setting standards that are then adopted by other states. also, some of the big tech companies that would be most affected by the laws, including meta, apple, snap, and alphabet, the parent company of google, are headquartered in the state. “parents are demanding this. that’s why you see democrats and republicans working together,” said wicks, who with a republican colleague co authored the design code act that is tied up in litigation. “regulation is coming, and we won’t stop until we can keep our kids safe online.” the fate of the design code act stands as a cautionary tale. passed without a dissenting vote, the law would set strict limits on data collection from minors and order privacy settings for children to default to their highest levels. netchoice, which immediately sued to block the law, has prevailed in similar cases in ohio, arkansas, and mississippi. it is challenging legislation in utah that was rewritten after netchoice sued over the original version. and netchoice’s lawyers argued before the u.s. supreme court that efforts in texas and florida to regulate social media content were unconstitutional. those cases were remanded to lower courts for further review. though the particulars differ in each state, the bottom line is the same: each of the laws has been stifled by an injunction, and none has taken effect. “when you look at these sweeping laws like the california laws, they’re ambitious and i applaud them,” said nancy costello, a clinical law professor at michigan state university and the director of the school’s first amendment clinic. “but the bigger and broader the law is, the greater chance that there will be a first amendment violation found by the courts.” the harmful effects of social media on children are well established. an advisory from surgeon general murthy last year warned of a “profound risk of harm” to young people, noting that a study of adolescents from ages 12 to 15 found that those who spent more than three hours a day on social media were at twice the risk of depression and anxiety as nonusers. a gallup survey in 2023 found that u.s. teenagers spent nearly five hours a day on social media. in june, murthy called for warnings on social media platforms like those on tobacco products. later that month came newsom’s call to severely restrict the use of smartphones during the school day in california. legislation to codify newsom’s proposal is working its way through the state assembly. federal legislation has been slow to materialize. a bipartisan bill to limit algorithm derived feeds and keep children under 13 off social media was introduced in may, but congress has done little to meaningfully rein in tech platforms   despite meta’s chief executive, mark zuckerberg, apologizing in a u.s. senate hearing for “the types of things that your families have had to suffer” because of social media harms. it remains unclear what kinds of regulation the courts will permit. netchoice has argued that many proposed social media regulations amount to the government dictating how privately owned firms set their editorial rules, in violation of the first amendment. the industry also leans on section 230 of the 1996 communications decency act, which shields tech companies from liability for harmful content produced by a third party. “we’re hoping lawmakers will realize that as much as you may want to, you can’t end around the constitution,” said szabo, the netchoice attorney. “the government is not a substitute for parents.” skinner tried and failed last year to pass legislation holding tech companies accountable for targeting children with harmful content. this year’s measure, which was overwhelmingly passed by the california senate and is pending in the state assembly, would bar tech companies from sending social media notifications to children between midnight and 6 a.m. every day, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. the bill also calls for platforms to require minors to obtain parental consent to use their core offerings, and would limit their use to an hour to 90 minutes a day by default. “if the private sector is not willing to modify their product in a way that makes it safe for californians, then we have to require them to,” skinner said, adding that parts of her proposal are standard practice in the european union. “social media has already accommodated users in many parts of the world, but not the u.s.,” she said. “they can do it. they’ve chosen not to.” wicks, meanwhile, said she considers her data bill to be about consumer protection, not speech. the proposal would close a loophole in the california electronic communications privacy act to prevent social media platforms from collecting and sharing information on anyone under 18 unless they opt in. the assembly approved wicks’ measure without dissent, sending it to the state senate for consideration. costello suggested that focusing the proposals more narrowly might give them a better chance of surviving court challenges. she is part of an effort coordinated by harvard’s t.h. chan school of public health to write model legislation that would require third party assessments of the risks posed by the algorithms used by social media apps. “it means that we’re not restricting content, we’re measuring harms,” costello said. once the harms are documented, the results would be publicly available and could lead state attorneys general to take legal action. government agencies adopted a similar approach against tobacco companies in the 1990s, suing for deceptive advertising or business practices. szabo said netchoice has worked with states to enact what he called “constitutional and commonsense laws,” citing measures in virginia and florida that would mandate digital education in school. “there is a role for government,” szabo said. (the florida measure failed.) but with little momentum on actual regulation at the national level, state legislators continue to try to fill the vacuum. new york recently passed legislation similar to skinner’s, which the state senator said was an encouraging sign. will netchoice race for an injunction in new york? “we are having lots of conversations about it,” szabo said. kff health news is a national newsroom that produces in depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at kff an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. learn more about kff. this story can be republished for free (details). we encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. here’s what we ask: you must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our californiahealthline.org site. if possible, please include the original author(s) and “california healthline” in the byline. please preserve the hyperlinks in the story. it’s important to note, not everything on californiahealthline.org is available for republishing. if a story is labeled “all rights reserved,” we cannot grant permission to republish that item. have questions? let us know. medi cal medi cal facts and figures   2024 edition medi cal, california’s medicaid program, is the state’s health insurance program for californians with low incomes, including children, people with disabilities, and seniors. get the latest data on this program, which covers one in three californians. behavioral health california's behavioral health data landscape this paper delivers a comprehensive overview of behavioral health data requirements and structures in california. calaim calaim experiences: implementer views in year three of reforms this is the second survey in as many years of people working on the ground at behavioral health organizations, community based organizations, managed care plans, and social services organizations that launch and run calaim’s many new programs. learn about their successes and ongoing challenges. © california healthline 1998 2025. all rights reserved. california healthline is a service of the california health care foundation produced by kff health news, an editorially independent program of the kff. powered by wordpress vip

eliminates "significant public impact" requirement with legislation proposed last week, colorado is poised to go from having one of the more conservative consumer protection acts in the county to potentially having one of the more sweeping laws on the books. the new bill, hb19 1289, includes a number of measures designed to significantly broaden the scope of conduct covered under the colorado consumer protection act (“ccpa”), including: the proposed bill additionally expands the financial remedies available for ccpa violations. it increases the per violation penalty maximum from $2000 to $20,000, and removes the $500,000 cap for any related series of violations. where any violations are found to be committed against elderly persons, the legislation increases the per penalty maximum from $10,000 to $50,000 with no cap. these civil penalties would be considered damage awards for accounting purposes under the proposed bill. finally, the bill allows for prejudgment interest to be included the award of actual damages sustained by a private plaintiff, calculated from the date the claim accrued. if passed in its current form, hb19 1289 would create opportunity for more aggressive enforcement by the colorado attorney general and district attorneys as well as much more private litigation under the ccpa. for example, state attorneys general as well as private parties are increasingly litigating issues around the collection and use of consumer data. it is far easier to allege collection and use of consumer data without express permission as “unfair” than to allege that practice as violating one of the ccpa’s current, more specific provisions. similar broadly worded statutes in california and new jersey have led to a significant increase in private plaintiff litigation and costs for companies doing business in those states. additionally, the elimination of the significant public impact requirement has the potential to transform any private business dispute into a ccpa action, and to invite a treble damages award if the plaintiff can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted in bad faith. the bill narrowly passed out of the house judiciary committee 6 5 early this week. the committee struck a section of the bill that would have made certain provisions in standard form consumer and employment contracts unenforceable. an amendment was proposed that would have imposed the significant public impact requirement only on private parties, but that amendment was defeated. as this bill moves through the colorado general assembly, businesses operating in colorado should take note of the possibility that far more of their activities could fall within the purview of the ccpa if this legislation passes as currently drafted. you have chosen to send an email to brownstein hyatt farber schreck or one of its lawyers. the sending and receipt of this email and the information in it does not in itself create and attorney client relationship between us. if you are not already a client, you should not provide us with information that you wish to have treated as privileged or confidential without first speaking to one of our lawyers. if you provide information before we confirm that you are a client and that we are willing and able to represent you, we may not be required to treat that information as privileged, confidential, or protected information, and we may be able to represent a party adverse to you and even to use the information you submit to us against you. i have read this and want to send an email.

happy 2025 everyone! the arrival of a new year means that state legislative sessions   which is when legislatures meet to discuss and debate new laws and adopt state budgets   are either already underway or are set to start over the next few weeks. thus, it’s time for my annual state legislative and policy preview, where i try to lay out the trends and priorities that state legislators, governors, and attorneys general will be working on over the coming weeks and months. this preview is informed by discussions i’ve had with various lawmakers, staffers, and advocates over the previous few months, as well as my experience watching and participating in state politics over the years. 2025 sessions can’t help but be colored by the change in administration at the federal level, with so called “blue” states taking steps to counteract the incoming trump administration and preserve some of the things the biden administration did, and so called “red” states taking steps that may have been blocked under biden, as well as attempting to curry favor with both trump and (more importantly) the folks who vote for him. but states are still political arenas all their own, distinct (and in many ways better, to be honest) from the federal one, with issues that need addressing regardless of which way the national wind blows. states are also often leaders on emerging issues, forcing the federal government to catch up later. that latter fact is going to be particularly important this year, i think, as a lot of legislating will be done on new technologies that are potentially dangerous and provide potent avenues for advancing scams and fraud, such as artificial intelligence and various algorithmic tools. with that in mind, below are 11 things that i will be watching with particular interest at the state level this year. my usual caveats apply, as they do every year: circumstances can change quickly, and with them political and policy priorities, so don’t take any predictions here as written in stone. and of course i will inevitably miss some stuff, because this is a big country. but you can check my previews from the last three years here, here and here to see how close i came   not too bad, i think! let me know in the comments what you think is coming down the pike or what i may have missed. share protecting kids from big tech addiction: several states have taken steps to regulate children’s ability to access social media platforms and to rein in some of the addictive features and tactics those platforms use to keep kids coming back for more. these have included age restrictions, new design codes, eliminating the ability of social media corporations to use algorithms to suggest new content to kids, and eliminating their ability to target specific ads to children. despite many of these laws having been tied up in court   based on the (absurd, i think) argument that addictive social media features are protected by the first amendment   i think many more laws like these are coming this year. already, a utah legislator has proposed a bill to require tech platforms to take age verification measures in app stores. this is such a vital area that i expect legislators will keep whacking away until they land on something that passes judicial muster, or the judiciary surrenders in the face of widespread public support for new regulations. a whole new world of “artificial intelligence” bills: state legislators across 45 states introduced more than 700 bills in 2024 related to artificial intelligence, and more than 100 of them were signed into law. (the only state that held a 2024 session, but did not have an ai bill introduced, was arkansas.) many of those laws had to do with election related protections, protections specifically for children, or were aimed at preventing algorithmic discrimination (i.e., using ai for hiring in a way that would discriminate against certain job applicants). this work will very much continue this year, but it’s a difficult policy area to follow   or even describe   as the term “ai” covers many real things, and many things that aren’t actually artificial intelligence at all, but that tech proponents want to slap the label onto in order to gain notoriety or legitimacy. the real question is: how much of what is accomplished will be real and useful and how much will be just vaporware or simply entrench already existing dominant corporations? action against algorithmic price fixing in rental housing: i’ve written several times about how a few corporations, of which realpage is the most prominent, sell software that enables corporate landlords to fix the price of rental housing across local markets via the use of algorithms, resulting in double digit rent hikes in some locations and billions in higher rent prices across the country. san francisco, california, and philadelphia, pennsylvania, have already passed local statutes limiting the use of these systems, and similar state wide legislation is actively under consideration in new jersey. i expect many more states and cities to move on similar bills, and for more antitrust enforcers to follow the examples of arizona, washington, d.c., and the department of justice in suing the corporations that enable these price fixing practices. limits on wall street investments in local housing stock: speaking of housing costs, i also expect states will seek to limit the ability of private equity firms and other institutional investors to buy up local housing stock to either re sell or turn into rental properties. one study claims private equity firms were responsible for 44 percent of single family home flips in 2023, while the wall street journal claimed that investors bought more than 25 percent of the available homes across the country in 2022. some cities, including pittsburgh, atlanta, and newark, have seen wide swathes of their housing stock purchased by investment firms. there have been some half hearted federal efforts to rein in these practices, but i suspect many state legislators will be interested and more successful. more states trash junk fees: last year, minnesota became the second state, after california, to adopt a broad ban on junk fees   those mandatory, undisclosed fees that can’t be avoided by the consumer. similar legislation was considered in another dozen states, and passed one legislative chamber in new york, illinois, virginia, colorado, hawaii, pennsylvania, and connecticut. especially following an election in which cost of living was extremely top of mind for voters, i expect more states to pass broad bans on junk fees, as well as the adoption of more targeted measures eliminating fees in areas such as rental housing and utilities. (for more on this, check out the end junk fees campaign hub here.) scrutiny on political spending by monopoly utilities: three states in 2023   colorado, maine, and connecticut   adopted laws to limit the ability of monopoly utilities to charge ratepayers for political activities, such as lobbying or participating in trade associations, as well as for other activities that have nothing to do with their core business of keeping the lights or water on. by all early accounts, those laws are working as intended. again, with cost of living such a potent political issue, and utility costs rising, those bills will become very attractive to state legislators, and i’d expect several of them to be introduced across the country. now, this next part is more of a wish than a prediction, but i’d also love to see more general attention on state public utility commissions, since they have a lot of power to make life instantly better (or, more often, worse) for all the residents of a state. the life and potential death of free file: as part of the 2022 inflation reduction act, the biden administration got the ball rolling on a free, public tax filing tool, known as direct file, to compete with the likes of turbotax (which is owned by intuit) and other leeches who profit off our civic duty to pay taxes. taxpayers in a dozen states used the direct file system in 2024, to generally positive reviews. 24 states are on tap to allow access this year   from across the political spectrum, including california, texas, new york, and florida   but congressional republicans are attempting to push the trump administration to repeal the program. it will be interesting to see if red state voters and politicians raise a stink about a game changing public service potentially going away so that the likes of intuit and h&r block can continue to nickel and dime the public. state attorneys general take on the merger boom: there will be a lot of action and headlines about democratic state ags taking on the trump administration in various high profile areas, such as immigration or crime policy. but an under the radar issue is how those ags, along with their republican counterparts, will address the expected trump merger boom. while the trump team will likely continue some high profle antitrust cases, especially in the tech space, its expected that they will generally be more lenient toward big mergers and acquisitions than the biden team was, leaving states to fend for themselves. already, some ags have signaled that they’ll continue to use state law to block continued corporate consolidation, and as this is generally a bipartisan issue, i’d expect ags of both parties to do so, even if they’re not trumpeting their intentions to the press right now. action against various health care middlemen: several states took a whack at trying to limit the ability of private equity middlemen to acquire and gut health care facilities last year, with none coming closer than oregon, which almost pushed a decent bill across the finish line. that bill will be back, and i expect other states to follow suit, looking to beef up what are known as “corporate practice of medicine” laws to eliminate the loopholes that allow investors to get involved in medical doctrine and decision making. states will also continue their push to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, in order to bolster the ability of independent pharmacies to stay afloat. the downside of data centers: as regular readers know, many states have been wasting taxpayer dollars on attracting data centers, subsidizing big tech while receiving very little in return. as more communities wake up to the downsides of those centers, state legislators are now starting to swing the other way, looking at how they can limit the impact of data centers on public resources, such as water and power, and on the environment. previous efforts to rein in the data center machine haven’t been successful, but i’m slightly more optimistic they have legs this year, as the problems data centers bring have become more widespread and well known. the next step in the grocery store wars: one of the biggest wins for state federal antitrust enforcers last year was the successful blocking of a proposed merger between kroger and albertsons, which would have been the largest grocery merger in american history, with significant downsides for shoppers and workers. plenty of politicians are touting and running on the positive politics of blocking that deal, but grocery costs remain high, so there will likely be other efforts focused on grocery prices, including: reforms to price discrimination laws, efforts to reduce or eliminate grocery taxes, and attempts to challenge some of the monopoly land practices of retailers such as walmart. leave a comment if you’re interested in one of these efforts in your state and want to learn how to get involved, drop a comment below or send me a message. likewise, if you’re a state legislator who wants to learn more about any of these policy areas, send me an email: pgarofalo@economicliberties.us. finally, thanks for reading and subscribing, and here’s to an exciting and eventful 2025. share simply stated: here are links to a few stories that caught my eye this week. spotify is creating fake musical artists in order to boost its profits. billionaire professional sports team owners keep picking the pockets of florida taxpayers, with the help of state legislators. one of the best u.s. political pollsters wrote about how american political opinions are actually converging in several areas. the consumer financial protection bureau sued walmart for illegally forcing delivery drivers to use specific deposit accounts in order to get paid. thanks for reading this edition of boondoggle. if you liked it, please take a moment to click the little heart under the headline or below. and forward it to friends, family, or neighbors using the green buttons. every click and share really helps. share thanks again!   pat garofalo in charlotte, nc and would love to help at the local or state level if i can! no posts ready for more?

my stories sit at the intersection of technology, policy and politics. these days, that includes the road toward regulation of artificial intelligence, federal action against tech giants for antitrust and consumer abuses, and the tech war between the u.s. and china. i’ve been writing about technology for about two decades. i coauthored “an ugly truth: inside facebook’s battle for domination,” published in 2021, with my colleague, sheera frenkel. before joining the times, i was the senior technology reporter at the washington post. i also covered technology for the san jose mercury news. i was part of a team of times reporters honored with the george polk and loeb awards. as a times journalist, i share the values and adhere to the standards of integrity outlined in the times’s ethical journalism handbook. i don’t own any individual stocks in any companies. i don’t accept monetary or other gifts from companies or people who might fit into my reporting. email: cecilia.kang@nytimes.com x: @ceciliakang linkedin: cecilia kang anonymous tips: nytimes.com/tips after helping president trump get elected, elon musk was poised to dominate the country’s a.i. policies. then mr. altman sneaked into the white house. by cecilia kang and cade metz the broadcaster had declined previous requests by the trump campaign to release the unedited transcript of an interview with vice president kamala harris. by michael m. grynbaum mr. trump had claimed the a.i. announcement as an early trophy, taking credit for the companies’ decision to spend up to $500 billion building data centers. by theodore schleifer and cecilia kang openai, oracle and softbank formed a new joint venture called stargate to invest in data centers, building on major u.s. investments in the technology. by cecilia kang and cade metz the traditional inaugural luncheon at the capitol, normally a staid affair attended primarily by government officials, this time featured an extraordinary commingling of money and power. by theodore schleifer, cecilia kang and maya c. miller this was featured in live coverage. by cecilia kang this was featured in live coverage. by cecilia kang this was featured in live coverage. by cecilia kang the maker of chatgpt hopes to spur investment from the middle east and avoid strict regulations on the development of new technologies. by cade metz and cecilia kang the changes included allowing users to share “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation.” by kate conger this was featured in live coverage. by cecilia kang the longtime republican lobbyist for meta was named to the company’s top policy role last week. by cecilia kang this was featured in live coverage. by cecilia kang and adam satariano plus, kenyan villagers get a scare from space. by tracy mumford, cecilia kang, robert jimison, ian stewart and jessica metzger after nearly two decades of fighting, the battle over regulations that treat broadband providers as utilities came to an end on thursday. by cecilia kang president elect donald j. trump’s picks for the f.c.c. and f.t.c. have vowed to remove censorship online. that conflicts with european regulators who are pushing for stricter moderation. by cecilia kang and adam satariano it was a week of frenzied activity, as silicon valley billionaires and their companies brandished checks and compliments for the president elect. by theodore schleifer and david yaffe bellany mr. ferguson, a current republican member of the agency, will replace lina khan, who had aggressively challenged mergers and the power of the biggest tech companies. by cecilia kang and david mccabe regulators are working around the clock to cement four years of tech policy ahead of the inauguration of president elect donald j. trump. by cecilia kang if confirmed as assistant attorney general for the antitrust division, she would inherit lawsuits to break up google’s search monopoly and ad tech dominance, as well as a case accusing apple of making it hard for consumers to switch software and hardware. by cecilia kang the district of columbia’s attorney general said the company deliberately outsourced prime member deliveries in certain zip codes. by cecilia kang the two sides made their final cases to a federal judge monday in a trial over the tech giant’s dominance in technology that sells ads online. by david mccabe and cecilia kang mr. carr, who currently sits on the commission and is a vocal critic of big tech, has said the agency should regulate the tech industry. by cecilia kang apple, amazon, google, meta and others learned during the last trump administration to expect the unexpected when it came to washington scrutiny and support. by cecilia kang and david mccabe the federal trade commission chair drew increasing political vitriol as the presidential vote neared. her political future hangs in the balance. by david mccabe and cecilia kang the billionaire made splashy purchases of the washington post and a mansion in washington. but his status as a power player in the nation’s capital was never realized. by cecilia kang and david mccabe post owner jeff bezos ended the decades long practice, weeks after a discussion at a meeting in miami. the move has drawn criticism in and outside the newsroom. by benjamin mullin and katie robertson netchoice, backed by tech giants including meta and google, has successfully argued in court that big tech hosts protected speech. by cecilia kang service has been restored in some areas after hurricane helene, but many people are still unable to communicate by phone, which has hampered relief efforts, worried loved ones and complicated daily life. by nicholas bogel burroughs and cecilia kang the bill would have been the first in the nation to place strict guardrails on the new technology, but gov. gavin newsom said the bill was flawed. by cecilia kang below are 15 major cases brought by the justice department and federal trade commission since late 2020, as president biden’s top antitrust enforcers have promised to sue monopolies and block big mergers. by lazaro gamio, cecilia kang and danielle kaye meta, youtube and other sites collected more data than most users realized, a new report by the federal trade commission finds. by cecilia kang kicking off the second week of an antitrust trial, neal mohan testified that google did what was best for consumers and the ad industry. by cecilia kang after ruling against google last month, judge amit p. mehta said he would take until next august to determine fixes that the company must make. by cecilia kang we explain the next steps in the google monopoly case. by cecilia kang plus, the paralympics begin in paris. by tracy mumford, adam rasgon, cecilia kang, ian stewart and jessica metzger gov. gavin newsom must now decide whether to sign into law the fiercely debated legislation. by cecilia kang yelp complained for more than a decade that google tilted the search market in its favor. after its rival’s landmark legal loss, it finally decided to sue. by nico grant pavel durov, who was arrested near paris over the weekend as part of a broad investigation into criminal activity on the platform, was also barred from leaving the country. by aurelien breeden and adam satariano the indictment of pavel durov, telegram’s founder, as part of an investigation into illicit activities on the messaging app set off worries about the personal liability of tech executives. by adam satariano and cecilia kang silicon valley companies still worry that state lawmakers are jumping the gun on regulating a still unproven technology. by cecilia kang and cade metz a california state senator, scott wiener, wants to stop the creation of dangerous a.i. but critics say he is jumping the gun. by cade metz and cecilia kang the federal government has more lawsuits in the pipeline trying to rein in the tech giants, including another antitrust case against google that goes to trial next month. by cecilia kang and david mccabe the parent company of facebook and instagram faced allegations that it had collected facial identification information on millions of users in violation of a state law. by cecilia kang the senate overwhelmingly passed the kids online safety act on tuesday, but the legislation faces an uphill battle in the house because of censorship concerns. by cecilia kang the presumptive democratic nominee has won concessions from big tech leaders on a.i., but she hasn’t successfully pushed congress to regulate. by david mccabe and cecilia kang this was featured in live coverage. by cecilia kang donald trump’s vice presidential pick has indicated he favors a hands off approach to a.i. but also wants to increase scrutiny of the biggest tech firms in the field. by cecilia kang the move against the app ngl by the federal trade commission was the first time the agency barred an online service from hosting minors. by cecilia kang a group is using the mothers against drunk driving playbook, sharing personal tragedies, to lobby for the kids online safety act. by cecilia kang dr. vivek murthy said he would urge congress to require a warning that social media use can harm teenagers’ mental health. by ellen barry and cecilia kang california legislators have made the biggest push to pass new laws to rein in the technology. colorado passed one protecting consumers. by cecilia kang their plan is the culmination of a yearlong listening tour on the dangers of the new technology. by cecilia kang and david mccabe judge amit p. mehta must now decide whether google violated the law, potentially setting a precedent for a series of tech monopoly cases. by david mccabe and cecilia kang as the justice department’s case against google nears an end, the federal government has more suits in the pipeline trying to rein in big tech. by cecilia kang and david mccabe they shrugged off concerns about the company’s fate ahead of closing arguments in the justice department’s lawsuit this week. by nico grant judge amit p. mehta tried poking holes in the closing arguments of a landmark monopoly case as he weighs a ruling that could reshape tech. by david mccabe and cecilia kang commissioners voted along party lines to revive the rules that declare broadband as a utility like service that could be regulated like phones and water. by cecilia kang for years, federal lawmakers have tried to pass legislation to rein in the tech giants. the tiktok law was their first success. by cecilia kang a tiny group of lawmakers huddled in private about a year ago, aiming to keep the discussions away from tiktok lobbyists while bulletproofing a bill that could ban the app. by sapna maheshwari, david mccabe and cecilia kang

avi asher schapiro published: march 21, 2024 a stroke survivor wears a brain computer interface at his home, in richmond, texas, u.s., on september 21, 2023. reuters/evan garcia as advances in brain science make it possible to read and write human thoughts, some us states are pushing for new laws to protect neural activity los angeles   u.s. neurologist sean pauzauskie used to rely exclusively on expensive and cumbersome hospital kit to capture his patients' brainwaves and analyse problems in their electronic pathways. but in recent years, the colorado doctor turned to consumer headbands, commonly sold online to monitor sleep patterns or boost brain function, to capture the brain activity of some patients suffering seizures. cheaper and easy to use, the headbands   which can cost just a few hundred dollars   capture similar electronic data as state of the art hospital machines, only with far less fuss. "in the beginning i was thrilled, i thought: 'patients can even do all this themselves, at home,'" he told context. "but then i thought: 'wait a second, that means all their brain data is going to some private company.'" advances in brain science have made it easier to capture detailed data flows for the human brain and interpret their meaning. some recent experiments have also shown the possibility of manipulating thoughts through neurological intervention. by processing electronic brain images with artificial intelligence (ai) systems, researchers at the university of texas were even able to accurately predict what words were running through a participant's head. these kinds of advances have led to big breakthroughs, letting some paralysed patients communicate via brainwaves or helping rewire dormant neural pathways after spinal injuries. "i am confident that in the next couple of years there will be many devices that can read your thoughts," said pauzauskie, who is excited to gain this new insight into how minds work. but he also fears a potential for abuse. so pauzauskie got in touch with advocates working on brain privacy issues, and he formed a coalition of lawmakers and scientists to push colorado into becoming the first u.s. state to enshrine privacy guarantees for brain data. legislation passed the colorado assembly last month, on a vote of 61 1, and now goes before the state senate. it is part of a trickle of bills under consideration countrywide, united by the common aim of ensuring that what goes on in a brain belongs to its owner   and can stay private. lawmakers in minnesota introduced their own bill in march. california   which often sets the pace for privacy rules   is also preparing a law that could be introduced within weeks. experts say the push for 'neural rights' is a rare attempt to lock consumer protection into an emerging technology before its mass adoption. some gadgets that capture brain data   with the potential to resell or share that information   are already on sale, and a number of start ups plan to roll out devices soon. "we want more guidance from lawmakers," said adam molner, co founder of neurable, a company developing headphones that can monitor brainwaves. with its first product due to hit the market this year, neurable says it does not plan to sell raw brain data, and will expressly ask users for consent before its collection. major companies have not yet rolled out consumer devices that interact with the brain, though many firms   including snapchat and meta   are working on the technology. last year, apple filed a patent for airpods that could monitor electrical activity in the brain. "we have a real patchwork of laws when it comes to this data," said sara pullen guercio, a lawyer with the privacy group at alston & bird who is tracking u.s. neural rights legislation. while neural data gathered in a medical setting is covered by health data protection laws, she said that same data gathered for commercial purposes was much more loosely regulated. "what we don't want is a wild west for neural data," she said. the united states has no federal privacy laws, and while 15 states have passed their own versions of legislation, none directly addresses neural data, said jared genser, a lawyer and co founder of the neurorights foundation. the neurorights foundation backed the colorado law, which would insert neural data into the state's existing privacy bill under the category of "sensitive data". companies would then need consent before collecting neural data, and would have to give customers options to limit what can be done with it as well as the right to delete it. "neural data is really missing from these existing laws in a large part because people were not thinking of it when they were drafting these laws," genser said. the foundation wants to enshrine rights for the brain around the world; last year, chile issued the first ever ruling demanding that illegally collected brain data be deleted. pauzauskie, the colorado neurologist, approached his state assembly member cathy kipp at a recent fundraiser to raise his concerns about unregulated neural data. "the fact that a company could capture your brainwaves today, and then resell them and then those brain waves could be used for something totally different in five years   that's a problem," she told context. as the bill moves through the legislature, there's been back and forth with tech industry groups about how to define neural data and the devices that collect it, kipp said. she wants to make sure the language remains broad enough to capture future developments in what is a quickly evolving field: neural data that is recorded by a headset today could be gathered by a wristband tomorrow, she reasoned. david stauss, a colorado lawyer who focuses on privacy law, said the colorado bill is part of a national pattern: states are increasingly tweaking privacy laws to cover sensitive data. for example, oregon and delaware recently amended their bills to add transgender and non binary status to their definitions of sensitive data. in minnesota, which does not have a state level privacy law, lawmakers are taking a different tack. they are proposing a law to enshrine "cognitive liberty" and impose penalties for accessing brain data or using neural technology to interfere with thoughts without consent. "far too often we wait for bad things to happen, and we respond to a crisis after people have been harmed," said walter hudson, a member of the minnesota state house pushing the bill. state senator josh becker in california is preparing a draft of a neurorights bill in california to be unveiled this month. "i am focused on making sure that people own their own neural data," said becker, who previously spearheaded state legislation to rein in databrokers. it's still not clear exactly how this patchwork of laws will impact industry, said rachel marmor, a privacy law expert at the firm holland & knight. "until there’s a bunch of enforcement actions it's going to be hard to move the needle on how businesses approach this," she explained. but with any privacy law, there's a risk that compliance comes down to checking countless boxes on a myriad of forms and clicking through long, complex privacy policies, she warned. "forcing people to read thousands of privacy disclosures a year is not going to be workable here," she said. 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artificial intelligence supported by california legislators have made the biggest push to pass new laws to rein in the technology. colorado passed one protecting consumers. by cecilia kang reporting on a.i. policy lawmakers in california last month advanced about 30 new measures on artificial intelligence aimed at protecting consumers and jobs, one of the biggest efforts yet to regulate the new technology. the bills seek the toughest restrictions in the nation on a.i., which some technologists warn could kill entire categories of jobs, throw elections into chaos with disinformation, and pose national security risks. the california proposals, many of which have gained broad support, include rules to prevent a.i. tools from discriminating in housing and health care services. they also aim to protect intellectual property and jobs. california’s legislature, which is expected to vote on the proposed laws by aug. 31, has already helped shape u.s. tech consumer protections. the state passed a privacy law in 2020 that curbed the collection of user data, and in 2022 it passed a child safety law that created safeguards for those under 18. “as california has seen with privacy, the federal government isn’t going to act, so we feel that it is critical that we step up in california and protect our own citizens,” said rebecca bauer kahan, a democratic assembly member who chairs the state assembly’s privacy and consumer protection committee. as federal lawmakers drag out regulating a.i., state legislators have stepped into the vacuum with a flurry of bills poised to become de facto regulations for all americans. tech laws like those in california frequently set precedent for the nation, in large part because lawmakers across the country know it can be challenging for companies to comply with a patchwork across state lines. state lawmakers across the country have proposed nearly 400 new laws on a.i. in recent months, according to the lobbying group technet. california leads the states with a total of 50 bills proposed, although that number has narrowed as the legislative session proceeds. we’d like to hear from lawyers working with generative a.i., including contract lawyers who have been brought on for assignments related to a.i. we won’t publish your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first.

 in summary the california legislature passed more than a dozen bills to regulate artificial intelligence in recent days, though some ambitions fell short. welcome to calmatters, the only nonprofit newsroom devoted solely to covering issues that affect all californians. sign up for whatmatters to receive the latest news and commentary on the most important issues in the golden state. lea esta historia en español california legislators just sent gov. gavin newsom more than a dozen bills regulating artificial intelligence, testing for threats to critical infrastructure, curbing the use of algorithms on children, limiting the use of deepfakes, and more. but people in and around the ai industry say the proposed laws fail to stop some of the most worrisome harms of the technology, like discrimination by businesses and government entities.