The plan to blow up the internet, ostensibly to protect kids online (regarding AB 2273)

The California Legislature is aggressively pursuing several wide-sweeping and radical proposals to regulate the Internet. One especially problematic bill is AB 2273, the California Age Appropriate Design Code Act (AADC). Framed as a protect-kids-online bill, the AADC would radically reshape the Internet — and harm both kids and adults alike.

The AADC requires businesses to adopt protective practices for children. On the surface, this sounds pretty good. However, to achieve this outcome, businesses must know which users are kids. This would require businesses to authenticate all of their users’ ages — and that is bad news for everyone.