Fla., Tenn. Lawmakers Float Age-Verification Bills

Florida could prohibit kids younger than 16 from creating social media accounts and let parents request ending the existing account of their children 16 and younger. HB-1 would have children 16-18 accept a disclaimer at login: “This application may be harmful to your mental health and may use design features that have addictive qualities or present unverified information or that may be manipulated by [insert platform name] or others for your viewing. This application may also collect your personal data to further manipulate your viewable content and may share your personal data with others.” State Rep. Tyler Sirois (R) introduced the bill Friday. In addition, HB-1 would require social websites to reveal content moderation policies, whether they use addictive design or deceptive patterns and consider "the best interests of platform users who are younger than 18 years of age when designing, developing, and providing services.” In addition, websites would have to say if they collect or sell personal information of those younger than 18. The Computer and Communications Industry Association raised concerns about the proposed law, with CCIA State Director Khara Boender saying, "This legislation raises similar issues to those in laws passed in [Arkansas] and [Utah], which are currently facing legal challenges due to constitutional concerns." Also Friday, Florida Sen. Lauren Book (D) introduced a children’s social media bill (SB-1430) with language similar to HB-1 about required disclosures, but without banning kids from using sites. State Sen. Joe Gruters (R) proposed a bill requiring “foreign-adversary-owned entities operating social media platforms” to "disclose the core functional elements” of their "content curation and algorithms.” Covered entities also would have to “implement a user verification system for each user and organization that purchases advertisements concerning social or political issues.” The system would have to verify buyers’ age, residency and citizenship and disclose the company's identity in ads. In Tennessee, state Sen. Mark Pody (R) unveiled legislation (SB-1643) requiring that websites verify that users trying to access pornographic content are at least 18 years old. Covered websites include social media platforms where more than one-third of content is “sexual material harmful to minors.”