| 1 | 1 | | House File 798 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 798 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO HF 278) 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 2520HV (2) 91 dg/jh |
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| 3 | 3 | | H.F. 798 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. 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 a. Create personal profiles or accounts that include the 25 persons name, age, location, and other personal information. 26 b. 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 c. Facilitate public access to content, including text, 30 images, videos, internet site links, or any other information. 31 d. Send private messages to other social media platform 32 users. 33 e. Create groups for the purpose of communicating about 34 shared interests. 35 -1- LSB 2520HV (2) 91 dg/jh 1/ 5 |
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| 5 | 5 | | H.F. 798 5. User means an individual who uses a social media 1 platform. 2 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 554I.3 Parental authorization 3 requirements. 4 1. A social media company shall not permit a minor to be 5 an account holder on the social media companys social media 6 platform unless the social media company has received prior 7 express parental authorization. 8 2. A social media company shall allow a parent or guardian 9 who has provided parental authorization to revoke or rescind 10 the grant of parental authorization upon request at any time. 11 3. A social media company shall not collect, transfer, 12 transmit, image, or retain any data from or regarding a minor 13 if the minor has not received parental authorization for the 14 minor to be an account holder on the social media companys 15 social media platform in accordance with subsection 1. 16 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a 17 social media company shall not permit a minor to create, use, 18 or hold an account on the social media companys social media 19 platform if the minor is prohibited from creating, using, or 20 holding an account on a social media platform under any other 21 provision of state or federal law. 22 5. A social media company shall provide a parent or guardian 23 who has granted parental authorization under subsection 1 with 24 a password or other means to access the account of the minor, 25 which shall allow the parent or guardian to do all of the 26 following: 27 a. View all posts created by the minor on the social media 28 platform. 29 b. View all messages sent by, and responses received by, the 30 minor on the social media platform. 31 c. Control the privacy and account settings of the minors 32 account on the social media platform. 33 d. Monitor and limit the amount of time the minor may spend 34 using the social media platform. 35 -2- LSB 2520HV (2) 91 dg/jh 2/ 5 |
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| 7 | 7 | | H.F. 798 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 554I.4 Enforcement penalties. 1 If the attorney general has reasonable belief that a social 2 media company is in violation of this chapter, the attorney 3 general may bring a civil action to provide for civil penalties 4 in an amount not more than one thousand dollars for each 5 violation of this chapter. 6 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 554I.5 Private right of action. 7 A person harmed by a violation of this chapter by a social 8 media company may bring a civil action in the district court 9 in which the person resides and, upon a finding that a social 10 media company violated this chapter, a district court may order 11 any of the following: 12 1. Damages in an amount equal to the greater of either ten 13 thousand dollars for each violation or, if the court determines 14 that the social media companys violation was the direct cause 15 of the harm, the amount of actual damages for any financial, 16 physical, and emotional harm to the person bringing the action. 17 2. Punitive damages. 18 3. Reasonable attorney fees and court costs. 19 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 554I.6 Rules. 20 The attorney general shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 21 17A to administer this chapter, including but not limited to 22 rules to establish all of the following: 23 1. Processes or means by which a social media company can 24 comply with the parental authorization requirements under 25 section 554I.3. 26 2. Acceptable forms or methods of parental authorization. 27 3. Processes to confirm that a social media company has 28 received parental authorization under section 554I.3 for each 29 minor that has created an account on the social media companys 30 social media platform. 31 Sec. 7. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to a social media 32 company operating on or after the effective date of this Act. 33 EXPLANATION 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 35 -3- LSB 2520HV (2) 91 dg/jh 3/ 5 |
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| 9 | 9 | | H.F. 798 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 1 This bill relates to parental authorization for minors to 2 create accounts on social media platforms. 3 The bill requires a social media company (company) to 4 obtain parental authorization before permitting a minor 5 to create an account on the companys platform, and, upon 6 request, to allow a parent or guardian to revoke or rescind the 7 grant of parental authorization at any time. Social media 8 company, parental authorization, minor, and social media 9 platform are defined in the bill. The bill prohibits the 10 collection, transfer, transmission, imaging, or retention of 11 data related to a minor by a company if the company has not 12 received parental authorization, and prohibits a company from 13 allowing a minor to create or use an account on the social 14 media platform if the minor is prohibited from doing so by any 15 other provision of state or federal law. The bill requires 16 a company to provide a parent or guardian who has granted 17 parental authorization with a password or other means to access 18 the account of the minor to allow the parent or guardian to 19 view all posts created by the minor, view all messages and 20 responses sent or received by the minor, control the privacy 21 and account settings of the minors account, and monitor and 22 limit the amount of time the minor may spend using the social 23 media platform. 24 The bill permits the attorney general to bring a civil 25 action for a violation of the bill and the court to assess a 26 civil penalty against a company of up to $1,000 per violation. 27 A person harmed by a companys violation of the bill may 28 bring a civil action in district court and, upon a finding 29 that a company violated the bill, a district court may order 30 damages in an amount equal to the greater of either $10,000 31 for each violation, or the amount of actual damages for any 32 financial, physical, and emotional harm to the person if the 33 court determines that the companys violation was the direct 34 cause of the harm. The court may also order punitive damages, 35 -4- LSB 2520HV (2) 91 dg/jh 4/ 5 |
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| 11 | 11 | | H.F. 798 reasonable attorney fees, and court costs. 1 The attorney general shall adopt rules to administer the 2 bill, including but not limited to rules to establish the 3 processes or means by which a company can comply with the 4 parental authorization requirements, acceptable forms or 5 methods of parental authorization, and the processes to confirm 6 that a company has received parental authorization for each 7 minor that has created an account on the platform. 8 The bill applies to a company operating in the state on or 9 after the effective date of the bill. 10 -5- LSB 2520HV (2) 91 dg/jh 5/ 5 |
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