Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed a kids safety bill (HB-603) modeled after the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, his office confirmed Thursday. Moore signed despite the tech industry's veto request. NetChoice General Counsel Carl Szabo said the Maryland law is unconstitutional and will have unintended consequences, all without making the internet safer for kids. Meanwhile, two other states advanced bills aimed at protecting children online Wednesday. The Pennsylvania House voted 105-95 to pass HB-2017, which would set age-verification and content-flagging requirements for social media companies (see 2403190050). The bill will go to the Senate. In South Carolina, the Senate voted 43-0 for H-3424, another bill requiring age verification to keep kids younger than 18 off pornographic websites. The House previously passed the bill (see 2402010024) but will have to vote again to concur with Senate changes.
Republican lawmakers blasted NPR CEO Katherine Maher during a House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing Wednesday and suggested that Congress should conduct more regular oversight of NPR and CPB or defund them (see 2405070044).
A measure regulating children’s social media use has sufficient bipartisan support for the Senate Commerce Committee to approve it, ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us last week.
Apparently undaunted by tech industry opposition, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a bill (HB-1891) requiring age-verification for social media use. Lee’s signature wasn’t surprising because he sought legislation requiring parental consent for kids younger than 18 on social networks (see 2403120065). However, NetChoice urged a veto, saying the law wouldn’t survive a court challenge if it were enacted (see 2404300017).
Social media companies would be barred from collecting data on Louisiana minors under 18 for targeted ads, under a bill passed unanimously by the state House on Tuesday. Members voted 101-0 for HB-577, sending it to the state Senate. The bill covers any social media platform with more than one million users globally that operates in Louisiana.
Bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday would eliminate algorithmic-targeted content for children younger than 17 and block users 13 and under from using platforms. Introduced by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the Kids Off Social Media Act would grant the FTC and state attorney general authority to enforce against violations. It would require schools to block and filter social media on federally funded networks. Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt.; Ted Budd, R-N.C.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Angus King, I-Maine; and Mark Warner, D-Va.; are co-sponsors. “The growing evidence is clear: social media is making kids more depressed, more anxious, and more suicidal,” said Schatz. “This is an urgent health crisis, and Congress must act.” Cruz said he’s hopeful this bill, the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) will “greatly reduce the physical and emotional dangers threatening many of America’s youth.”
The White House didn’t pressure social media platform executives to censor COVID-19-related content, former Biden officials told House Judiciary Committee members Wednesday. Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Republicans said the officials' pressure violated the First Amendment. The lawmakers cited numerous examples of tech company employees describing “pressure” from the administration.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Wednesday she's talking to a range of lawmakers seeking potential changes to an amended version of her draft Spectrum and National Security Act after the panel pulled Cantwell’s bill and 12 others from a planned Wednesday markup session Tuesday night (see 2404300072). The potential for the spectrum bill to make it into the bipartisan 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act “got precluded weeks ago,” Cantwell told reporters. The Senate voted 89-10 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the FAA bill as a substitute for Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (HR-3935). Lawmakers are still eyeing other vehicles for allocating stopgap money to keep the FCC’s ailing affordable connectivity program running through the remainder of the year. Those proposals include a bid from Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, that would attach an amendment to the FAA package appropriating ACP $7 billion (see 2405010055).
NetChoice urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) to veto a bill requiring age-verification for social media use. In a Monday letter, the tech industry group predicted that HB-1891 “would ultimately be struck down in court as unconstitutional.” But Lee has supported the bill, which would require parental consent for kids younger than 18 on social networks. The legislature approved HB-1891 earlier this month (see 2404160019).
The House on Monday passed legislation requiring that social media platforms report activity related to trafficking and criminal enticement of children. Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Reps. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., and Susie Lee, D-Nev., introduced the Report Act. It requires that platforms flag activity for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Currently, companies must report child sexual abuse material only. The bill passed the Senate in December and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk. The House approved the measure by voice vote. “Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that the internet and social media leave more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Under this new law, big tech companies will now be required to report when children are being trafficked, groomed or enticed by predators.” The bill will ensure “tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,” said Ossoff. NetChoice State & Federal Affairs Director Amy Bos called it an “important” piece of legislation “designed to help law enforcement more effectively stop online predators and provide additional support and resources for victims of these horrific crimes.”