Concerned about the mental health crisis among young people in the country last year, state legislatures passed a number of online safety measures for children. New Utah law requires social networks to obtain parental consent before giving an account to a child under the age of 18, and new California law requires many sites to have the best possible behavior for minors. Requires privacy settings to be turned on.
Now, lawmakers in Louisiana have passed an even broader bill that could affect internet access for a wide range of minors in the state.
Louisiana measures Online services such as social networks, multiplayer games, and video sharing apps would prohibit people under the age of 18 from signing up for accounts without parental consent. Parents in Louisiana will also be able to cancel the terms of service agreements their children have signed for existing accounts on popular services like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Fornite and Roblox.
of Louisiana Civil Code Already, parents are allowing immature minors to cancel contracts signed by them. Republican state legislator Laurie Schlegel, who spearheaded the new bill, said her bill simply clarified that the state’s existing contract rules also cover accounts on online content-sharing platforms. Stated.
“It’s already a law in Louisiana,” Schlegel said in an email, citing young people’s inability to understand and agree to the numerous terms and conditions that online services often require to open an account. “We are just opening up to some irresponsible online companies that contract with minors without parental consent.”
On Tuesday, the Louisiana legislature passed the bill by a 97-0 vote. The state Senate had already passed the bill. The bill currently requires the approval of Governor John Bell Edwards, who has not taken a public position on the action. If he signs the bill, it will go into effect on August 1 next year.
State bill to be introduced two weeks after Surgeon General announces Public Advisory Warning Americans argued that social media poses serious risks to the mental health of young people and called on policy makers to limit children’s access. For many parents worried about their children being bombarded with inappropriate content or spending unhealthy hours online, this may be welcome.
Industry group TechNet, which includes Meta, Snap, Google, Amazon, Apple and Uber, opposed the bill, saying it was too broad and could cause friction for all users, including adults.
“The bill would require all users to provide proof of age to comply with the law, and parents to provide proof of parenthood to minors to access the platform. We are asking you to do so,” said Servando Esparza, TechNet’s executive director of Texas. Southeast said in an emailed statement. “This puts privacy at risk and can have unintended consequences,” he added, noting that Louisiana legislators recently amended the bill to authorize a study of the potential impact before the measure goes into effect. You mentioned that you obliged.
The Louisiana Online Contracts Act is part of this year’s new state law regulating Internet services that may pose risks to young people. It also confirms an escalating effort among Republican state legislators to give families more control over their children’s online activities.
Schlegel last year passed a Louisiana law requiring sexually explicit sites to verify that users in the state are at least 18 years old by verifying credentials such as a verified digital driver’s license. led its establishment. The law went into effect in January.
Since then, at least five states (Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, Utah, and Virginia) have passed similar age verification laws for porn sites.
In March, Republican lawmakers in Utah set out to pass a restrictive social media bill that would require social networks to verify the age of their users and obtain parental consent for minors to have accounts. The law allows parents to access their children’s online posts and messages. Arkansas also enacted similar measures in April.
In May, the Free Speech Coalition, an organization representing adult entertainment sites, sued Utah He seeks to block the porn age verification bill on free speech grounds, accusing it of violating the right of Americans to view constitutionally protected information.
Civil liberties groups have expressed similar concerns about the broad children’s online safety bill, saying the measures could prevent young people from browsing online.
New Louisiana legislation does not specifically require social media, multiplayer games, or other sites or apps to verify the age of users in the state. It also does not include specific penalties for companies that do not comply.
Still, some online services that currently require new users to voluntarily provide their date of birth in order to have stricter age verification and parental consent procedures could be affected. be.
Like Schlegel’s porn bill, the new online contract bill could be widely imitated. Many other states’ civil laws have similar rules regarding contracts with minors.
“It’s time for big tech companies to take more responsibility for kids online,” Schlegel wrote. “The damage is real.”
