| 1 | 1 | | House File 278 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 278 BY KAUFMANN A BILL FOR An Act relating to parental authorization for minors to 1 create accounts on social media platforms, providing civil 2 penalties, and including applicability provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2520YH (1) 91 dg/jh |
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| 3 | 3 | | H.F. 278 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 554I.1 Short title. 1 This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Social 2 Media Parental Authorization Act . 3 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 554I.2 Definitions. 4 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise 5 requires: 6 1. Minor means an individual under the age of eighteen who 7 currently resides in Iowa. 8 2. Parental authorization means all of the following: 9 a. A written statement signed by both a minor and the 10 minors parent or legal guardian that authorizes the minor to 11 create an account on a social media platform. 12 b. A digital authorization by a parent or a legal guardian 13 of a minor that authorizes the minor to create an account 14 on a social media platform if the social media platform 15 has previously verified that the account granting parental 16 authorization belongs to the parent or legal guardian of the 17 minor seeking parental authorization. 18 3. Social media company means a company that operates a 19 social media platform. 20 4. a. Social media platform means an internet site or 21 application that is open to the public and that allows a user 22 to create an account for the primary purpose of performing all 23 of the following: 24 (1) Create personal profiles or accounts that include the 25 persons name, age, location, and other personal information. 26 (2) Connect with other social media platform users as 27 friends, followers, or any other means of connecting that 28 allows other users to access shared content. 29 (3) Facilitate public access to content, including text, 30 images, videos, internet site links, or any other information. 31 (4) Send private messages to other social media platform 32 users. 33 (5) Create groups for the purpose of communicating about 34 shared interests. 35 -1- LSB 2520YH (1) 91 dg/jh 1/ 5 |
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| 5 | 5 | | H.F. 278 b. Social media platform does not include an online 1 service, website, or application where the predominate or 2 exclusive function is interactive gaming, virtual gaming, or 3 an online service that allows the creation and uploading of 4 content for the purpose of interactive gaming, educational 5 entertainment, or associated entertainment, and the 6 communication related to such content. 7 5. User means an individual who uses a social media 8 platform. 9 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 554I.3 Parental authorization 10 requirements. 11 1. A social media company shall not permit a minor to be 12 an account holder on the social media companys social media 13 platform unless the social media company has received prior 14 express parental authorization. 15 2. A social media company shall allow a parent or guardian 16 who has provided parental authorization to revoke or rescind 17 the grant of parental authorization upon request at any time. 18 3. A social media company shall not collect, transfer, 19 transmit, image, or retain any data from or regarding a minor 20 if the minor has not received parental authorization for the 21 minor to be an account holder on the social media companys 22 social media platform in accordance with subsection 1. 23 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a 24 social media company shall not permit a minor to create, use, 25 or hold an account on the social media companys social media 26 platform if the minor is prohibited from creating, using, or 27 holding an account on a social media platform under any other 28 provision of state or federal law. 29 5. A social media company shall provide a parent or guardian 30 who has granted parental authorization under subsection 1 with 31 a password or other means to access the account of the minor, 32 which shall allow the parent or guardian to do all of the 33 following: 34 a. View all posts created by the minor on the social media 35 -2- LSB 2520YH (1) 91 dg/jh 2/ 5 |
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| 7 | 7 | | H.F. 278 platform. 1 b. View all messages sent by, and responses received by, the 2 minor on the social media platform. 3 c. Control the privacy and account settings of the minors 4 account on the social media platform. 5 d. Monitor and limit the amount of time the minor may spend 6 using the social media platform. 7 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 554I.4 Enforcement penalties. 8 If the attorney general has reasonable belief that a social 9 media company is in violation of this chapter, the attorney 10 general may bring a civil action to provide for civil penalties 11 in an amount not more than one thousand dollars for each 12 violation of this chapter. 13 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 554I.5 Private right of action. 14 A person harmed by a violation of this chapter by a social 15 media company may bring a civil action in the district court 16 in which the person resides and, upon a finding that a social 17 media company violated this chapter, a district court may order 18 any of the following: 19 1. Damages in an amount equal to the greater of either ten 20 thousand dollars for each violation or, if the court determines 21 that the social media companys violation was the direct cause 22 of the harm, the amount of actual damages for any financial, 23 physical, and emotional harm to the person bringing the action. 24 2. Punitive damages. 25 3. Reasonable attorney fees and court costs. 26 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 554I.6 Rules. 27 The attorney general shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 28 17A to administer this chapter, including but not limited to 29 rules to establish all of the following: 30 1. Processes or means by which a social media company can 31 comply with the parental authorization requirements under 32 section 554I.3. 33 2. Acceptable forms or methods of parental authorization. 34 3. Processes to confirm that a social media company has 35 -3- LSB 2520YH (1) 91 dg/jh 3/ 5 |
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| 9 | 9 | | H.F. 278 received parental authorization under section 554I.3 for each 1 minor that has created an account on the social media companys 2 social media platform. 3 Sec. 7. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to a social media 4 company operating on or after the effective date of this Act. 5 EXPLANATION 6 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 7 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 8 This bill relates to parental authorization for minors to 9 create accounts on social media platforms. 10 The bill requires a social media company (company) to 11 obtain parental authorization before permitting a minor 12 to create an account on the companys platform, and, upon 13 request, to allow a parent or guardian to revoke or rescind the 14 grant of parental authorization at any time. Social media 15 company, parental authorization, minor, and social media 16 platform are defined in the bill. The bill prohibits the 17 collection, transfer, transmission, imaging, or retention of 18 data related to a minor by a company if the company has not 19 received parental authorization, and prohibits a company from 20 allowing a minor to create or use an account on the social 21 media platform if the minor is prohibited from doing so by any 22 other provision of state or federal law. The bill requires 23 a company to provide a parent or guardian who has granted 24 parental authorization with a password or other means to access 25 the account of the minor to allow the parent or guardian to 26 view all posts created by the minor, view all messages and 27 responses sent or received by the minor, control the privacy 28 and account settings of the minors account, and monitor and 29 limit the amount of time the minor may spend using the social 30 media platform. 31 The bill permits the attorney general to bring a civil 32 action for a violation of the bill and the court to assess a 33 civil penalty against a company of up to $1,000 per violation. 34 A person harmed by a companys violation of the bill may 35 -4- LSB 2520YH (1) 91 dg/jh 4/ 5 |
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| 11 | 11 | | H.F. 278 bring a civil action in district court and, upon a finding 1 that a company violated the bill, a district court may order 2 damages in an amount equal to the greater of either $10,000 3 for each violation, or the amount of actual damages for any 4 financial, physical, and emotional harm to the person if the 5 court determines that the companys violation was the direct 6 cause of the harm. The court may also order punitive damages, 7 reasonable attorney fees, and court costs. 8 The attorney general shall adopt rules to administer the 9 bill, including but not limited to rules to establish the 10 processes or means by which a company can comply with the 11 parental authorization requirements, acceptable forms or 12 methods of parental authorization, and the processes to confirm 13 that a company has received parental authorization for each 14 minor that has created an account on the platform. 15 The bill applies to a company operating in the state on or 16 after the effective date of the bill. 17 -5- LSB 2520YH (1) 91 dg/jh 5/ 5 |
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