Age-Verification Bills Coming to Va., S.D., Wyo.

In Virginia, Del. Josh Thomas (D) prefiled a bill (HB-1624) Friday that would stop social media platforms from providing addictive feeds to any user it knows is a child under 18 unless it first obtains verifiable parental consent. The bill would update the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act to require platforms to use “commercially reasonable methods to determine that the user is not a minor.” Also, “the operator of an addictive social media platform shall treat a user as a minor if the user's device communicates or signals that the user is or shall be treated as a minor, including through a browser plug-in or privacy setting, device setting, or other mechanism,” says the bill. The Senate has a similar measure (SB-359) that carried over from last year.

South Dakota Sen. Steve Kolbeck (R) on Friday prefiled, with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, a bill (SB-18) to require age verification on websites with material considered harmful to minors. “Reasonable” ways to verify age could include a driver’s license, state ID, military ID, bank account information, or a debit or credit card, it says. The state AG would enforce the bill, which has no private right of action (PRA).

The Wyoming House received for introduction two bills on social media age verification on Thursday. HB-19 by Rep. Steve Harshman (R) would require parental consent for kids under 18. It would direct Wyoming AG to make rules for obtaining, providing, verifying and revoking or withdrawing parental consent. HB-43 by Rep. Martha Lawley (R) would require websites to verify that a user is at least 18 to access websites with material deemed harmful for minors (HB-43). “Reasonable age verification measures” could include a driver’s license, state ID or U.S. passport or credit or debit card.

HB-43 would provide a PRA for a minor’s parents or guardians in the case of a violation. Also, anyone “may bring a civil action against a covered platform for knowingly retaining identifying information of the person after access to the material harmful to minors has been granted to the person.” ISPs would be exempted.