California Assembly Bill 1856 (AB-1856) proposes exempting operating systems distributed under licenses allowing copying, redistribution, and modification from the state’s Digital Age Assurance Act requirements. [1, 2]
The law would apply to most major Linux distributions including Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and Mint, clarifying that these open-source providers are not "operating system providers" under the original act. [1, 2]
The Digital Age Assurance Act (AB-1043), passed in December 2025, requires operating systems to verify user age at device setup and send an age bracket signal to applications and app stores. [1] AB-1856 amends the original law to exclude software that can be freely copied and modified by recipients. [1, 2]
The amendment also excludes certain software components not offered as standalone applications via covered app stores. [2] However, platforms like Valve’s SteamOS that include proprietary apps such as the Steam client may still be subject to the act’s requirements. [2]
The exemption proposal follows pushback from Linux and open-source communities who raised concerns about privacy and the practicality of implementing mandatory age verification on open-source software. [1]
AB-1856 was proposed and is being reviewed by California’s legislative committees as of June 2026. [1, 2] The original Digital Age Assurance Act’s age verification rules are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. [1]
