California has passed Assembly Bill 1856 (AB-1856), amending the state’s Digital Age Assurance Act to exempt open-source software and package managers. The bill, passed by the California Assembly with 69 votes in favor and zero against, addresses concerns about the impact of the original law on the Linux and open-source communities.
The Digital Age Assurance Act, set to take effect on January 1, 2027, requires age collection during device setup and age-bracket signals for applications. AB-1856 provides relief for open-source platforms by defining that an “Operating system provider” does not include entities distributing software under license terms permitting copying, redistribution, and modification. This specifically exempts Linux distributions, BSDs, and other open-source licensed software.
The bill also clarifies that “Application” does not include software components not offered as stand-alone executables through application stores, providing an exemption for package managers. According to the bill’s text, this exemption is intended to ease compliance for open-source platforms.
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