AB 1856 extends age-gating requirements to browsers and websites, which critics argue will lead to censorship and privacy issues.

With AB 1856, California lawmakers could have dramatically narrowed the harmful age-bracketing regime set to go into effect next year. Instead, the bill extends those requirements to browsers and websites. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/05/one-step-forward-two-steps-back-cas-ab-1856-exempts-open-source-expands-age-gating

California’s age-bracketing regime is a recipe for censorship and a privacy disaster. AB 1856 was supposed to fix these flaws before the law goes into effect next year, but our core problem with the bill remains. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/05/one-step-forward-two-steps-back-cas-ab-1856-exempts-open-source-expands-age-gating