S.B. 63
- *SB63*
SENATE BILL NO. 63–COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE AND LABOR
(ON BEHALF OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL)
PREFILED NOVEMBER 20, 2024
____________
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to social media
platforms. (BDR 52-505)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Increases or Newly
Provides for Term of Imprisonment in County or City
Jail or Detention Facility.
Effect on the State: Yes.
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to social media platforms; requiring each social
media platform to establish a system to verify the age of
prospective users of the platform in this State; prohibiting
a social media platform from allowing certain minors in
this State to use the social media platform; requiring a
social media platform to obtain the affirmative consent of
a parent or legal guardian before authorizing certain
minors in this State to use the social media platform;
requiring a social media platform to disable certain
features on the account of a minor user in this State;
restricting the times during which a social media platform
may deliver notifications to a minor user in this State;
prohibiting the use of the personal information of a minor
user in this State in an algorithmic recommendation
system; authorizing certain civil enforcement; providing
penalties; and providing other matters properly relating
thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Sections 2-21 of this bill enact the Nevada Youth Online Safety Act, which 1
establishes specific provisions relating to the use of social media platforms by 2
minors who reside in this State. Sections 4-11 define certain terms, and section 3 3
establishes the applicability of those definitions to the Act. Section 12 clarifies that 4
the provisions of this bill do not apply to: (1) users of social media who reside 5
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outside of this State; or (2) social media platforms that do not offer services to users 6
who are located in this State. 7
Section 13 requires a social media platform to establish an age verification 8
system to determine whether a prospective user of the platform is a minor before 9
allowing the prospective user to create an account. If the social media platform 10
determines that a prospective user is a minor, section 13 requires the social media 11
platform to use the age verification system to further determine whether the minor 12
is less than 13 years of age. Section 14 prohibits a social media platform from 13
allowing a minor whom the age verification system determines to be less than 13 14
years of age from using the platform. 15
Section 15 requires a social media platform to obtain affirmative consent from 16
the verified parent or legal guardian of a minor who is at least 13 years of age 17
before allowing the minor user to create an account or otherwise use the platform in 18
most circumstances. However, section 16 authorizes a social media platform to 19
authorize a minor who is at least 13 years of age to create an account if the social 20
media platform verifies that the minor has been judicially emancipated. Section 15 21
requires a social media platform to allow a parent or legal guardian to revoke his or 22
her consent at any time. Upon such a revocation, section 15 requires a social media 23
platform to: (1) disable the account for which consent has been revoked; and (2) 24
delete all personal information related to or created in connection with the account. 25
Section 13 requires a social media platform to establish a process by which a 26
prospective user may appeal a determination of age made using the age verification 27
system. 28
Section 17 requires the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt 29
regulations establishing recommended practices relating to: (1) age verification 30
systems; and (2) obtaining the consent of a parent or legal guardian for a minor to 31
use a social media platform. Section 17 provides that a social media platform that 32
adheres to those recommendations is deemed to be in compliance with section 13 33
or 15, as applicable. Section 22 of this bill: (1) requires a social media platform to 34
verify the age of each person who is a user of the platform on October 1, 2025; and 35
(2) establishes a process for the social media platform to come into compliance 36
with the requirements of sections 13-16 with respect to such users. 37
Section 18 prohibits a social media platform from using the personal 38
information of a minor user in an algorithmic recommendation system. Section 19 39
requires a social media platform to disable the following features on the account of 40
a minor user: (1) infinite scrolling; (2) the display of metrics, icons or emoticons 41
which indicate certain interaction with the minor’s content; (3) auto-play video; and 42
(4) livestreaming. Section 20 prohibits, with certain exceptions, a social media 43
platform from sending notifications to a minor user during certain times of the day, 44
which are typically reserved for sleep or for school. Section 20 also requires a 45
social media platform to provide a mechanism by which a verified parent or legal 46
guardian may prevent a minor user from accessing or receiving such notifications 47
between specific hours chosen by the parent or legal guardian. 48
Existing law provides that a variety of actions constitute deceptive trade 49
practices. (NRS 100.180, 111.2397, 118A.275, 202.24935, 205.377, 226.600, 50
228.620, 370.695, 597.7642, 597.818, 597.997, 603.170, 603A.260, 603A.550, 51
604B.910, 676A.770; chapter 598 of NRS) Existing law authorizes a court or the 52
Director of the Department of Business and Industry to impose a civil penalty of 53
not more than $25,000 for each violation upon a person who has engaged in a 54
deceptive trade practice directed toward a minor. (NRS 598.09735) In addition, 55
existing law provides that when the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs or the 56
Director has cause to believe that a person has engaged or is engaging in any 57
deceptive trade practice, the Commissioner or Director may request that the 58
Attorney General represent him or her in instituting an appropriate legal 59
proceeding, including an application for an injunction or temporary restraining 60
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order. (NRS 598.0979) Existing law requires a person who violates a court order or 61
injunction resulting from a complaint brought by the Commissioner, the Director, 62
the district attorney of any county of this State or the Attorney General to pay a 63
civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each violation. Furthermore, if a court 64
finds that a person has willfully engaged in a deceptive trade practice, the person 65
who committed the violation: (1) may be required to pay an additional civil penalty 66
not more than $15,000 for each violation; and (2) is guilty of a felony or 67
misdemeanor, depending on the value of the property or services lost as a result of 68
the deceptive trade practice. (NRS 598.0999) Section 21 makes a violation of the 69
provisions of this bill a deceptive trade practice. 70
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 603 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1
thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 21, inclusive, of this 2
act. 3
Sec. 2. Sections 2 to 21, inclusive, of this act may be cited as 4
the Nevada Youth Online Safety Act. 5
Sec. 3. As used in sections 2 to 21, inclusive, of this act, 6
unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined 7
in sections 4 to 11, inclusive, of this act have the meanings 8
ascribed to them in those sections. 9
Sec. 4. “Consumer device” means an electronic device that is 10
used primarily for personal, family or household purposes and 11
which connects to the Internet. The term may include, without 12
limitation, a computer, smartphone, electronic tablet, smartwatch, 13
router, Internet gateway, smart television or video game console. 14
Sec. 5. “Minor” means a natural person who is less than 18 15
years of age. 16
Sec. 6. “Minor user” means a current or prospective user of 17
a social media platform whom a social media platform determines, 18
using the age verification system established pursuant to section 19
13 of this act, to be a minor. 20
Sec. 7. “Online contact information” means a unique user 21
identifier or username that can be used to facilitate direct contact 22
with a specific person online, including, without limitation: 23
1. An electronic mail address; or 24
2. A user identifier or handle associated with a social media 25
platform, an instant messaging platform, a voice over Internet 26
protocol platform or a video chatting platform. 27
Sec. 8. “Persistent identifier” means any data point that can 28
be used to recognize a specific user or a specific consumer device 29
belonging to a specific user over time and across different Internet 30
websites, applications and other online services. The term 31
includes, without limitation: 32
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1. An Internet cookie which contains a customer number; 1
2. An Internet protocol address; or 2
3. The serial number or unique identifier of a consumer 3
device. 4
Sec. 9. “Personal information” means information that is 5
linked or can reasonably be linked to a specific user, household or 6
consumer device, including, without limitation: 7
1. A last name when accompanied by either a first name, set 8
of initials or a nickname; 9
2. A date of birth; 10
3. A physical address, including, without limitation, a home, 11
work or school address; 12
4. Online contact information; 13
5. A telephone number; 14
6. A government issued identification number, including, 15
without limitation, a Social Security number, passport number or 16
driver’s license number; 17
7. An image or voice contained within a photo, video or audio 18
file or in any other data; 19
8. Information concerning a geographic location that is 20
sufficient to identify both the name of a street and the locality in 21
which the street is located; or 22
9. A persistent identifier. 23
Sec. 10. “Social media platform” means an online 24
application, Internet website or other online service that: 25
1. Allows a person to: 26
(a) Become a registered user; and 27
(b) Establish an account, create a profile or otherwise create, 28
share and view user-generated content; and 29
2. Serves as a medium for users to: 30
(a) Interact with other users through accounts, profiles or 31
other means; or 32
(b) Interact with or otherwise view the content generated by 33
other users of the platform. 34
Sec. 11. “User” means a person who uses a social media 35
platform. 36
Sec. 12. The provisions of sections 2 to 21, inclusive, of this 37
act do not: 38
1. Require a social media platform to take any action with 39
regard to a user who does not reside in this State. 40
2. Apply to any social media platform which does not offer 41
services to users who are located within this State. 42
Sec. 13. 1. A social media platform shall establish an age 43
verification system to determine whether a prospective user of the 44
platform is a minor before allowing the prospective user to create 45
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an account. The age verification system established pursuant to 1
this section must be reasonably calculated to enable the social 2
media platform to determine whether a user is a minor with an 3
accuracy rate of at least 95 percent. 4
2. If a social media platform determines that a prospective 5
user is a minor, the social media platform shall further determine, 6
using the age verification system established pursuant to 7
subsection 1, whether the prospective user is less than 13 years of 8
age. 9
3. A social media platform shall establish a process which 10
allows a prospective user to appeal a determination of the 11
prospective user’s age that is made using the age verification 12
system established pursuant to subsection 1 by submitting 13
documentation to establish the actual age of the prospective user. 14
The social media platform shall review the documentation and 15
make a determination on the appeal not less than 30 days after the 16
prospective user submits the documentation. 17
4. A social media platform shall segregate from all other 18
information gathered by the platform any personal information 19
gathered specifically within the age verification system or obtained 20
through the appeals process established pursuant to subsection 3. 21
A social media platform shall not use or retain such personal 22
information for any purpose except those described in this section. 23
Sec. 14. A social media platform shall not authorize a 24
prospective user to create an account or otherwise use the social 25
media platform if the social media platform knows or reasonably 26
believes the prospective user to be less than 13 years of age based 27
on a determination made by the age verification system established 28
pursuant to section 13 of this act. The provisions of this section 29
apply regardless of whether the social media platform obtains the 30
verifiable consent of the parent or legal guardian of the 31
prospective user in accordance with section 15 of this act. 32
Sec. 15. 1. Except as otherwise provided in section 16 of 33
this act, a social media platform shall require the affirmative 34
consent of the parent or legal guardian of a prospective minor 35
user who is at least 13 years of age before authorizing the 36
prospective minor user to create an account or otherwise use the 37
social media platform. In carrying out the requirements of this 38
subsection, a social media platform shall take reasonable steps, 39
beyond merely requiring attestation, to verify the parental or 40
guardianship relationship. Such reasonable steps may include, 41
without limitation, using current technologies or documentary 42
evidence to verify a parental or guardianship relationship. 43
2. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a social 44
media platform that relies in good faith on information furnished 45
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by a putative parent or legal guardian to prove a parental or 1
guardianship relationship and otherwise complies with the 2
requirements of this section must not be determined to be out of 3
compliance with this section if the putative parent or legal 4
guardian is not actually the parent or legal guardian of the minor 5
user. The provisions of this subsection do not apply if the social 6
media platform allows a minor user to maintain an account after 7
obtaining actual knowledge that the putative parent or legal 8
guardian who provided consent pursuant to subsection 1 is not 9
actually the parent or legal guardian of the minor user. 10
3. A social media platform shall provide a parent or legal 11
guardian who provides consent pursuant to subsection 1 with the 12
ability to revoke that consent at any time. 13
4. As soon as practicable after receiving a revocation of 14
consent pursuant to subsection 3, a social media platform shall: 15
(a) Suspend, delete or otherwise disable the account of the 16
minor user for whom consent was revoked; and 17
(b) Delete all personal information related to or collected in 18
connection with the account for which consent has been revoked. 19
5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a 20
social media platform to require a prospective user or his or her 21
parent or legal guardian to provide government-issued 22
identification to verify the parental or guardianship relationship 23
or to verify the provision of affirmative consent under this 24
subsection. 25
6. A social media platform shall not use or retain any 26
personal information collected under this section for any purpose 27
except to: 28
(a) Verify the provision of affirmative consent by a parent or 29
legal guardian; 30
(b) Verify a parental or guardianship relationship; 31
(c) Provide confirmation of the affirmative consent to the 32
parent or legal guardian of a minor user; 33
(d) Preserve the ability of a parent or legal guardian to revoke 34
such consent; or 35
(e) Prove that the platform has complied with the requirements 36
of this section. 37
Sec. 16. 1. A social media platform may authorize a 38
prospective minor user who is at least 13 years of age and who has 39
been judicially emancipated to create an account without the 40
consent of the parent or legal guardian of the minor. Before 41
authorizing the creation of such an account, a social media 42
platform shall take reasonable steps to verify that the prospective 43
minor user has been judicially emancipated, including, without 44
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limitation, requiring the prospective minor user to furnish 1
documentary evidence to establish his or her emancipation. 2
2. A social media platform shall not use or retain any 3
personal information collected pursuant to this section for any 4
purpose other than to: 5
(a) Verify the emancipation status of a minor user; or 6
(b) Prove that the platform has complied with the requirements 7
of this section. 8
Sec. 17. 1. The Department of Health and Human Services 9
shall adopt regulations to establish recommended: 10
(a) Practices that a social media platform may use to: 11
(1) Determine whether a user is a minor in accordance with 12
section 13 of this act; and 13
(2) Obtain the affirmative consent of a verified parent or 14
legal guardian in accordance with section 15 of this act. 15
(b) Criteria which a social media platform may use to 16
determine whether the age verification system established by the 17
social media platform is able to determine whether a prospective 18
user is a minor with an accuracy rate of at least 95 percent as 19
required by section 13 of this act. 20
2. A social media platform shall be deemed to be in 21
compliance with the requirements of section 13 of this act if the 22
social media platform: 23
(a) Establishes an age verification system for determining 24
whether a prospective user is a minor that complies with the 25
recommended practices adopted by the Department of Health and 26
Human Services pursuant to subparagraph (1) of paragraph (a) of 27
subsection 1; and 28
(b) Uses the criteria adopted by the Department of Health and 29
Human Services pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1 to 30
ensure that the age verification system is able to identify whether a 31
prospective user is a minor with an accuracy rate of at least 95 32
percent. 33
3. A social media platform shall be deemed to be in 34
compliance with the requirements of section 15 of this act if the 35
social media platform complies with the recommended practices 36
adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services 37
pursuant to subparagraph (2) of paragraph (a) of subsection 1 for 38
obtaining the affirmative consent of a verified parent or legal 39
guardian in accordance with section 15 of this act. 40
Sec. 18. 1. A social media platform shall not use the 41
personal information of a minor user in an algorithmic 42
recommendation system. 43
2. The provisions of subsection 1 shall not be construed to 44
prohibit contextual information delivery. 45
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3. As used in this section: 1
(a) “Algorithmic recommendation system” means a fully or 2
partially automated system that suggests, promotes or ranks 3
information for, or presents advertising to, a user. 4
(b) “Contextual information delivery” means the delivery of 5
information or advertising to a user based on inferences drawn 6
exclusively from the specific content of the specific page, forum or 7
other Internet website that a user is currently viewing at the time 8
during which the information or advertisement is being provided 9
on that page, forum or other Internet website. The term does not 10
include the recommendation of information or advertising in 11
whole or in part based on other pages, forums or other Internet 12
websites that have been viewed by a user. 13
Sec. 19. A social media platform shall disable the following 14
features on the account of a minor user and shall not cause any 15
content viewed by a minor user to be delivered through or 16
accompanied by any of the following features: 17
1. Infinite scrolling, including, without limitation: 18
(a) Content that continuously loads as the user scrolls down 19
the page without the need for the user to open a separate page and 20
which has no apparent end; or 21
(b) The use of pages with no visible or apparent end as the 22
user continues to scroll. 23
2. The display of interactive metrics, icons or emoticons 24
which indicate: 25
(a) That another user has clicked a button to indicate their 26
reaction to a user’s content; or 27
(b) The number of times that other users have shared, liked or 28
reposted the user’s content. 29
3. Video that begins to play without the user first clicking on 30
the video or on a play button for that video. 31
4. Functions that allow a user or advertiser to broadcast live 32
video content in real-time to other users of the platform. 33
Sec. 20. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a 34
social media platform shall not send notifications to a minor user: 35
(a) Between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., based on the time 36
zone in which the minor user is located; or 37
(b) Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through 38
Friday, during the months of September through May, based on 39
the time zone in which the minor user is located. 40
2. A social media platform may send notification to a minor 41
user during the hours set forth in subsection 1 if the social media 42
platform obtains the affirmative consent of the verified parent or 43
legal guardian of the minor user in a manner consistent with 44
section 15 of this act to send notifications during those hours. 45
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Such consent must be specific to sending notifications during 1
those hours and is in addition to the consent required by section 2
15 of this act. 3
3. A social media platform shall provide a mechanism by 4
which a verified parent or legal guardian of a minor user may 5
prevent the minor user from accessing or receiving notifications 6
from the social media platform between specific hours of the day, 7
as chosen by the parent or legal guardian. The default setting of 8
that mechanism must prevent the minor user from accessing or 9
receiving such notifications during the hours set forth in 10
subsection 1. 11
4. This section does not apply to an account created for a 12
judicially emancipated minor user pursuant to section 16 of this 13
act. 14
Sec. 21. A violation of the provisions of this act constitutes a 15
deceptive trade practice for the purposes of NRS 598.0953 to 16
598.0999, inclusive. 17
Sec. 22. 1. On October 1, 2025, a social media platform shall 18
determine the age of each user who resides in this State using the 19
age verification system established pursuant to section 13 of this act. 20
2. If a social media platform determines pursuant to subsection 21
1 that a user is less than 13 years of age, the social media platform 22
shall immediately suspend the account of the user. If the social 23
media platform determines, after the resolution of any appeal 24
submitted pursuant to section 13 of this act, that the user is: 25
(a) Less than 13 years of age, or if no appeal is submitted 26
pursuant to section 13 of this act before November 1, 2025, the 27
social media platform shall delete the account of the user and all 28
personal information related to or collected in connection with the 29
account. 30
(b) At least 13 years of age but less than 18 years of age, 31
the social media platform shall proceed in accordance with 32
subsection 3. 33
(c) At least 18 years of age, the social media platform may 34
restore the account of the user. 35
3. If a social media platform determines pursuant to subsection 36
1 that a user is at least 13 years of age but less than 18 years of age, 37
the social media platform shall immediately suspend the account of 38
the user until the social media platform: 39
(a) Obtains the affirmative consent of the parent or legal 40
guardian of the user pursuant to section 15 of this act for the user to 41
maintain the account; 42
(b) Determines that the user has been judicially emancipated in 43
accordance with section 16 of this act; or 44
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(c) Determines that the user is at least 18 years of age after an 1
appeal is submitted pursuant to section 13 of this act. 2
4. If the social media platform determines, after the resolution 3
of any appeal submitted pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 3, 4
that the user of an account that has been suspended pursuant to 5
subsection 3 is less than 18 years of age or if no appeal is submitted 6
by the user of such an account before November 1, 2025, and the 7
account remains suspended on that date, the social media platform 8
shall delete the account and all personal information related to or 9
collected in connection with the account. 10
5. As used in this section: 11
(a) “Personal information” has the meaning ascribed to it in 12
section 9 of this act. 13
(b) “Social media platform” has the meaning ascribed to it in 14
section 10 of this act. 15
(c) “User” has the meaning ascribed to it in section 11 of this 16
act. 17
Sec. 23. 1. This section becomes effective upon passage and 18
approval. 19
2. Sections 1 to 22, inclusive, of this act become effective: 20
(a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 21
regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative 22
tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 23
(b) On October 1, 2025, for all other purposes. 24
H