This is democracy at its worst. The tiny fraction of folks who understand what this bill does will be dwarfed by the huge swath of voters who will see “protects children; holds tech accountable” and color in the dot for “yes”.
There is no more effective argument against democracy than those little summaries of bills you see in the voting booth. Two sentences to describe 200 pages of law. Performative is a kind way to describe this. Intentionally deleterious is a better one.
The biggest issue is that describing a bill the way I just did or the author does immediately causes eyes to glaze over. Upset about a bill to harm tech? Probably in tech. Upset about something happening in CA? Probably a republican. Upset about anything at all? Probably a jerk. California has a malaise that makes politics somehow wildly divisive.
We need laws covering laws. Impact assessments, criteria for demonstrating success, sunset conditions if it is not successful in a particular time, and clarity and complexity review that shows the public can be informed and reasonably expected to comply.
The absolute last thing the United States needs right now is even more friction in the legislative process! Yes, it would help prevent bad laws, but it also prevents good ones.
I know I shouldn't ask HN for legal advice, but does anyone know how these laws affects websites not made by americans and not hosted in the US? Could I still be fined for this? Would it be my job or their job to blacklist my websites from California internet if I was in violation?
I say this because my only experience was when in the wake of GDPR a lot of smaller US outlets decided on blacklisting Europe from accessing them.
The GDPR became enforceable beginning 25 May 2018, but most EU media did not comply with it until recently. Some now even try to pretend they comply when they do not.
Yet in France major media such as "lesechos.fr" or "lefigaro.fr" did not comply with it until a few month ago. At least they now present a good information to the user.
In Germany, "dw.com" present a much simplified GDPR message stating:
"We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. More info OK"
With "der spiegel" the message is there, but after this one, which hints that you have little choice:
"Continue reading with ads
Visit SPIEGEL.de as you normally would with the advertising and the usual tracking. (You can revoke your consent at any time.)
Read ad-free
No sharing of your data with advertisers. Use us for a fee without any ad tracking and practically free of advertising."
There is no more effective argument against democracy than those little summaries of bills you see in the voting booth. Two sentences to describe 200 pages of law. Performative is a kind way to describe this. Intentionally deleterious is a better one.
The biggest issue is that describing a bill the way I just did or the author does immediately causes eyes to glaze over. Upset about a bill to harm tech? Probably in tech. Upset about something happening in CA? Probably a republican. Upset about anything at all? Probably a jerk. California has a malaise that makes politics somehow wildly divisive.