AL
Alabama House Bill HB276

Alabama 2025 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HB276 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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33 HB276
44 ZAL9KRW-1
55 By Representative Robbins
66 RFD: Children and Senior Advocacy
77 First Read: 13-Feb-25
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1212 5 ZAL9KRW-1 02/05/2025 THR (L)THR 2024-2462
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1414 First Read: 13-Feb-25
1515 SYNOPSIS:
1616 This bill would require social media platforms
1717 to display notifications when minor account holders
1818 under 18 years of age use the platform in certain
1919 circumstances.
2020 This bill would require social media platforms
2121 to prohibit certain actions regarding accounts owned by
2222 minors under 18 years of age.
2323 This bill would require social media platforms
2424 to respond in a timely manner to inquiries from the
2525 Attorney General.
2626 This bill would require social media platforms
2727 to use a commercially reasonable age verification
2828 process.
2929 This bill would require social media platforms
3030 to provide tools and settings for parents, guardians,
3131 and minors to support minors with accounts on the
3232 platform.
3333 This bill would require social media platforms
3434 to remove certain content in certain circumstances.
3535 This bill would require social media platforms
3636 to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
3737 This bill would provide that a knowing or
3838 reckless violation by a social media platform of this
3939 act is a deceptive trade practice and would provide for
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6969 act is a deceptive trade practice and would provide for
7070 civil penalties.
7171 This bill would also require the State
7272 Department of Education to develop guidelines and a
7373 resource bank related to the mental and physical health
7474 impacts of social media use by minors.
7575 A BILL
7676 TO BE ENTITLED
7777 AN ACT
7878 Relating to social media; to require social media
7979 platforms to terminate certain accounts; to require social
8080 media platforms to display notifications in certain
8181 circumstances; to require social media platforms to prohibit
8282 certain actions; to require social media platforms to respond
8383 to inquiries from the Attorney General; to require social
8484 media platforms to use an age verification process; to require
8585 social media platforms to provide certain account tools and
8686 settings; to require social media platforms to remove certain
8787 content; to require social media platforms to cooperate with
8888 law enforcement; and to require the State Department of
8989 Education to take certain actions related to the mental and
9090 physical health impacts of social media use by minors.
9191 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
9292 Section 1. For the purposes of this act, the following
9393 terms have the following meanings:
9494 (1) ACCOUNT HOLDER. A resident who opens, creates, or
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124124 (1) ACCOUNT HOLDER. A resident who opens, creates, or
125125 operates a profile on a social media platform or is identified
126126 by a social media platform by a unique identifier while using
127127 or accessing a social media platform when the social media
128128 platform knows or has reason to believe that the resident is
129129 located in this state.
130130 (2) DAILY ACTIVE USERS. The number of unique users in
131131 the United States who used a social media platform on at least
132132 80 percent of the previous 365 days or, if the social media
133133 platform has not existed for 365 days, the number of unique
134134 users in the United States who used the social media platform
135135 on at least 80 percent of the last 30 days.
136136 (3) ENGAGEMENT FEATURE. Any of the following:
137137 a. Infinite scrolling.
138138 b. Push notifications or alerts sent by a social media
139139 platform to inform a user about specific activities or events
140140 related to the user's account.
141141 c. Display of personal interactive metrics that
142142 indicate the number of times other users have clicked a button
143143 to indicate their reaction to content or have shared or
144144 reposted the user's content.
145145 d. Video that begins to play without the user first
146146 clicking on the video or on a play button for the video.
147147 (4) EPHEMERAL CONTENT. Content that is temporarily made
148148 available to users of a social media platform and that
149149 includes features, notifications, or visual design cues
150150 indicating the content will soon disappear.
151151 (5) INFINITE SCROLLING. Either of the following:
152152 a. Content that loads as the user scrolls down the page
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182182 a. Content that loads as the user scrolls down the page
183183 without the need to open a separate page.
184184 b. The use of pages with no visible or apparent end or
185185 page breaks.
186186 (6) OBSCENE MATTER. Any visual medium depicting acts of
187187 sexually explicit conduct, as defined in Section 13A-12-190,
188188 Code of Alabama 1975.
189189 (7) RESIDENT. An individual who resides in this state
190190 for at least six months out of every year.
191191 (8) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM or PLATFORM. An online forum,
192192 website, or application that satisfies each of the following
193193 criteria:
194194 a. Allows users to upload content or view the content
195195 or activity of other users.
196196 b. Employs algorithms that analyze user data or
197197 information on users to select content for users.
198198 c. Employs any engagement features.
199199 d. Of the platform's daily active users under 16 years
200200 of age, at least 10 percent average more than two hours per
201201 day using the website over the last 365 days, or over the last
202202 30 days if the platform has not existed for 365 days.
203203 Section 2. A social media platform shall do all of the
204204 following:
205205 (1) Allow any account holder to request to terminate an
206206 account. The termination must be effective within five
207207 business days after the request.
208208 (2) Allow the confirmed parent or guardian of an
209209 account holder under 16 years of age to request the
210210 termination of the account holder's account. The termination
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240240 termination of the account holder's account. The termination
241241 must be effective within 45 business days after the request.
242242 (3) Permanently delete all personal information held by
243243 the social media platform relating to any account terminated
244244 pursuant to this section, unless otherwise required by law.
245245 Section 3. On or after January 1, 2027, a social media
246246 platform, by default, shall display a pop-up or full screen
247247 notification to an account holder who is under 18 years of age
248248 when the account holder does either of the following:
249249 (1) Has spent one cumulative hour on the social media
250250 platform during a 24-hour period.
251251 (2) Uses the social media platform between the hours of
252252 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
253253 Section 4. A social media platform shall prohibit an
254254 account owned by an individual under 18 years of age from all
255255 of the following:
256256 (1) Receiving direct messages from any account holder
257257 18 years of age or older unless the minor account holder is
258258 already connected to the adult account holder on the platform.
259259 (2) Collecting or using personal information from the
260260 posts, content, messages, texts, or usage activities of the
261261 account other than information beyond what is adequate,
262262 relevant, and reasonably necessary in relation to the purposes
263263 for which such information is collected, as disclosed.
264264 (3) Displaying any advertising in the account based on
265265 the account holder's personal information, except age or
266266 location.
267267 Section 5. (a) A social media platform shall respond in
268268 a timely manner and in a usable format to inquiries from the
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298298 a timely manner and in a usable format to inquiries from the
299299 Attorney General regarding all of the following:
300300 (1) The current version of the published policies of
301301 the platform.
302302 (2) Any changes to the published policies since the
303303 previous report.
304304 (3) Whether the current version of the published
305305 policies contains a definition or provision relating to any of
306306 the following categories of content and, if so, the respective
307307 definitions or descriptions:
308308 a. Illicit substances.
309309 b. Sex trafficking.
310310 c. Possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale,
311311 or creation of, or the inducement to create, obscene matter.
312312 (4) Content moderation practices used by the platform
313313 including, but not limited to, all of the following:
314314 a. Content practices intended to address any of the
315315 categories of content listed in subdivision (3).
316316 b. How the platform responds to user reports of content
317317 that violates its published policies.
318318 c. How the platform removes individual pieces of
319319 content, users, or groups that violate the published policies
320320 or takes other action against a user or group of users that
321321 violates the published policies.
322322 d. The languages in which the platform makes published
323323 policies available.
324324 (5) A description of the platform's age verification
325325 practices, including the types of data used for age
326326 verification.
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356356 verification.
357357 (6) Data including all of the following:
358358 a. The number of times in the preceding calendar year
359359 that the platform responded to requests using the legal
360360 process from law enforcement agencies in this state pursuant
361361 to a violation of state or federal law, and the nature of any
362362 violation.
363363 b. The number of times that law enforcement agencies in
364364 this state requested information, as well as the number of
365365 requests that went unanswered and the reason why the requests
366366 went unanswered.
367367 (b) The Attorney General shall make public all
368368 information collected pursuant to this section.
369369 (c) Nothing in this section shall compel a platform to
370370 publicly report information in violation of trade secret
371371 protections or where doing so could damage the integrity or
372372 security of the platform.
373373 Section 6. (a) A social media platform shall use a
374374 commercially reasonable process to verify the age of each user
375375 of the platform.
376376 (b) A platform shall allow each user to select an
377377 option to apply to the protections described in Sections 7 and
378378 8.
379379 (c) With regard to any information concerning a user
380380 obtained by a platform or its agent in order to comply with
381381 the requirements of this section, a platform or its agent
382382 shall do both of the following:
383383 (1) Retain the information only for the purpose of
384384 compliance with this section.
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414414 compliance with this section.
415415 (2) Securely dispose of the information after age
416416 verification is complete.
417417 (d) Any agent of a platform that processes age
418418 verification information as required by this section shall
419419 have its principal place of business in the United States.
420420 Section 7. (a) A social media platform shall provide
421421 readily accessible and easy-to-use tools and settings for
422422 parents and guardians to support a minor account holder with
423423 respect to the minor's use of the platform. The tools and
424424 settings shall include the ability to do all of the following:
425425 (1) View and manage privacy and account settings.
426426 (2) Restrict purchases and financial transactions.
427427 (3) View metrics of total time spent on the platform.
428428 (4) Restrict time spent on the platform, including both
429429 maximum daily usage limits and limits during certain hours.
430430 (5) Limit and opt out of all of the following:
431431 a. Infinite scrolling features, while still allowing
432432 display of content in a chronological format.
433433 b. Notification and alert features.
434434 c. Reward features of any kind, including rewards a
435435 platform gives to users for time spent on the platform.
436436 d. Appearance-altering filters.
437437 e. Automatic playing of media.
438438 f. Geolocation features.
439439 (6) Limit types or categories of recommendations from
440440 personal recommendation systems and ephemeral content feeds.
441441 (7) View information regarding interactions between the
442442 minor's account and other accounts, including a list of
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472472 minor's account and other accounts, including a list of
473473 connected accounts and a list of accounts with which the minor
474474 account has exchanged private messages.
475475 (8) Easily report predatory activity and obscene matter
476476 to the platform.
477477 (9) Delete the minor's account and any personal data
478478 collected from or shared by the minor on the platform.
479479 (b) A social media platform shall provide clear and
480480 conspicuous notice to a user that the platform knows or
481481 reasonably should know is a minor when tools described in this
482482 section are in effect and what settings or controls have been
483483 applied.
484484 Section 8. (a) A social media platform shall provide an
485485 individual whom the platform knows or reasonably should know
486486 is a minor with readily accessible and easy-to-use safeguards
487487 that include the ability to do all of the following:
488488 (1) Limit the amount of time the minor spends on the
489489 platform.
490490 (2) Limit the ability of other individuals to
491491 communicate with the minor.
492492 (3) Prevent other users from viewing the minor's
493493 personal data collected by or shared on the platform.
494494 (4) Limit and opt out of all of the following:
495495 a. Private messaging and private content features.
496496 b. Notification and alter features.
497497 c. Reward features of any kind, including rewards a
498498 platform gives to users for time spent on the platform.
499499 d. Appearance-altering features.
500500 e. Automatic playing of media.
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530530 e. Automatic playing of media.
531531 f. Geolocation features.
532532 (5) Limit types or categories of recommendations from
533533 personal recommendation systems and ephemeral content feeds.
534534 (6) Restrict the sharing of the geolocation of the
535535 minor to other users on the platform and provide notice of the
536536 tracking of the minor's geolocation.
537537 (7) Delete the minor's account and any personal data
538538 collected from or shared by the minor on the platform.
539539 (b) A social media platform shall ensure that, in the
540540 case of a user the platform knows or reasonably should know is
541541 a minor, the default setting for any safeguard described in
542542 this section is the option that provides the most protective
543543 level of control over privacy and safety for that user.
544544 (c) A social media platform shall provide an individual
545545 whom the platform knows or reasonably should know is a minor
546546 with clear and conspicuous warnings when any of the following
547547 occur:
548548 (1) Content shared by the minor on the platform may
549549 contain geolocation information.
550550 (2) The minor's data may be tracked or used for the
551551 purpose of algorithmic profiling, recommending content, or
552552 targeting advertising.
553553 (3) The minor's data may be sold to the platform's
554554 advertising clients.
555555 (4) The minor's account profile is recommended or
556556 displayed to adult users.
557557 (5) The minor's account profile is recommended or
558558 displayed to users who are not on the minor's populated list
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588588 displayed to users who are not on the minor's populated list
589589 of connected users on the platform.
590590 (6) The minor shares or receives private content from
591591 users who are not on the minor's populated list of connected
592592 users on the platform.
593593 Section 9. A social media platform shall take action
594594 against any user determined to have engaged in any violation
595595 of the platform's published policies as detected by any
596596 component of the platform's content moderation systems.
597597 Section 10. Prior to initiating any enforcement action
598598 pursuant to this act, the Attorney General shall issue a
599599 notice of violation to a social media platform alleged to have
600600 violated this act. If the platform fails to cure the violation
601601 within 60 days after receipt of the notice, an action may be
602602 brought.
603603 Section 11. (a) Any knowing or reckless violation of
604604 this act is deemed a deceptive trade practice actionable under
605605 Chapter 19 of Title 8 of the Code of Alabama 1975. If the
606606 Attorney General has reason to believe that a social media
607607 platform is in violation of this act, the Attorney General, as
608608 the enforcing authority, may bring an action against the
609609 social media platform for an unfair or deceptive trade
610610 practice. In addition to other remedies available under
611611 Chapter 19 of Title 8 of the Code of Alabama of 1975, the
612612 Attorney General may collect a civil penalty of up to fifty
613613 thousand dollars ($50,000) per violation, reasonable attorney
614614 fees, and court costs.
615615 (b) If a violation described in subsection (a) is part
616616 of a consistent pattern of knowing or reckless conduct, the
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646646 of a consistent pattern of knowing or reckless conduct, the
647647 Attorney General may seek punitive damages against the social
648648 media platform.
649649 Section 12. (a) The State Department of Education may
650650 develop recommended guidelines for the implementation of
651651 curriculum related to the mental and physical health impacts
652652 of social media use by minors.
653653 (b)(1) The State Department of Education shall convene
654654 a stakeholder group to identify scholarly articles, programs,
655655 and resources pertaining to the mental and physical health
656656 impacts of social media use by minors that are evidence-based,
657657 culturally sensitive, and reflective of positive youth
658658 development guidelines for inclusion in a resource bank.
659659 (2) The State Department of Education shall maintain
660660 the resource bank and update the resource bank on an annual
661661 basis.
662662 Section 13. The Attorney General shall adopt rules to
663663 implement this act.
664664 Section 14. An Internet service provider or its
665665 affiliates or subsidiaries, a search engine, or a cloud
666666 service provider does not violate this act solely by providing
667667 access or connections to or from a website or other
668668 information or content on the Internet or a facility, system,
669669 or network not under the provider's control, including
670670 transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, or access
671671 software, to the extent the provider is not responsible for
672672 the creation of the content of the communication which
673673 violates this act.
674674 Section 15. This act shall become effective on January
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704704 Section 15. This act shall become effective on January
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