State Eyes Parental Consent for Social Media
from Axios Austin
The Texas House tentatively approved a measure on Tuesday that would require social media companies and other websites to obtain parental consent for users under 18.
Driving the news: Legislators gave initial approval to House Bill 18, which would prohibit any “digital service provider” from allowing users under 18 to create an account without the approval of the minor’s parent or guardian.
The measure — a priority for Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan — would also allow a parent to ban data collection, targeted advertising and more.
The measure passed by voice vote.What they’re saying: Rep. Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) said the bill would require social media companies to offer the highest level of privacy protections for parents and children.
“Through this bill, we will provide parents with the tools that they desperately need and demand to better protect our children in the digital world,” Slawson told lawmakers Tuesday.
The other side: Tech companies, including representatives from Facebook’s parent company, Meta, and Google-owned YouTube, testified against the measure in a committee hearing last month, arguing that their technology already offers parental controls.
They also said the move could have unintended consequences and poses privacy concerns when it comes to providing the age of the child and relation to the guardian.
Verifying age inevitably means asking for IDs, which “creates all kinds of access to information that you might not really want us to have,” Meta’s vice president of safety Antigone Davis told the panel of lawmakers in March.
What’s next: The House could give final approval to the measure as soon as today before it heads to the Senate.
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