Relating to the use of safety management software for children on large social media platforms.
Impact
Should HB4338 be enacted, it would significantly alter how large social media companies interact with user data, particularly regarding minors. The bill obligates platforms to facilitate the seamless transfer of user data to third-party safety software providers while maintaining compliance with regulations set forth by the Department of Information Resources. This oversight aims to enhance accountability and transparency in managing the welfare of children online, promoting safer digital interactions and offering parents tools to safeguard their children's experiences on social platforms.
Summary
House Bill 4338, titled as Sammy's Law, aims to implement safety management software for children using large social media platforms. The legislation mandates that these platforms provide real-time application programming interfaces (APIs) for third-party safety software providers. This requirement is intended to allow authorized individuals, like parents or guardians, to manage children's online activities, ensuring greater safety against threats such as cyberbullying, human trafficking, and illegal drug distribution. The bill’s definition of a child applies to individuals under 17 years of age, emphasizing the focus on youth protection in a digital environment.
Contention
Notably, some points of contention around HB4338 include concerns about privacy and the liability of social media companies. The legislation includes provisions limiting the liability of large platforms as long as they demonstrate good faith compliance with the bill's requirements. Critics might raise issues surrounding the adequacy of these measures in protecting user privacy, arguing that extensive data sharing, even for protective purposes, could expose children to risks if not properly managed. Furthermore, the effectiveness and implementation of such safety software could be subjects of debate as stakeholders assess the real-world applicability of these technological safeguards.
Relating to requiring social media platform operators to identify and notify law enforcement of credible threats of violence published on their platforms; creating a criminal offense.
Relating to the protection of minors from harmful, deceptive, or unfair trade practices in connection with the use of certain digital services and electronic devices, including the use and transfer of electronic devices to students by a public school.
Relating to venue and choice of law for certain actions involving censorship by social media platforms and to statutory damages in actions brought by social media users against social media platforms for prohibited censorship.
Relating to requiring social media platforms to include certain warnings in connection with advertisements for medical procedures or treatments conducted in a foreign country.
Relating to criminal and civil liability related to sexually explicit media and artificial intimate visual material; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.