Louisiana Legislators Clear Kids Privacy Bill; Delay Vote on App Store Bill

HB-37 would require covered online platforms, including websites and videogames, to prohibit adults from making a connection to a minor unless the minor initiated it. Unless a minor and an adult have a connection, the bill would prohibit the adult from sending messages to the minor. Also, it would restrict covered platforms from disclosing or sharing geolocation of a minor with any individual who isn’t the minor’s parent or legal representative. Additionally, the platform would have to notify the parent or guardian any time a child makes a connection with an adult, among other reasons. As amended Monday, the bill would take effect March 1, 2026.

HB-37 sponsor Rep. Laurie Schlegel (R) urged the Civil Law Committee to advance the legislation. "In what world would we allow companies without any safeguards to facilitate strangers' unfettered access to children?” she asked. “There is no other industry we give such a pass to when it comes to engaging with minors." Schlegel later added that it’s “100% possible” for industry to implement the bill.

State Rep. Michael Johnson (R) thanked Schlegel for battling "billion-dollar companies who choose money and wealth over lives.” Also praising the bill, Rep. Josh Carlson (R) said he particularly appreciates that H-37 isn’t “trying to target a certain app or company or system, because ... it's an infinite number of systems."

However, Entertainment Software Association lobbyists opposed the bill for containing a private right of action, among other concerns related to its constitutionality and actual likely effectiveness. The ESA lobbyists stressed they’re not against protecting children, but rather the proposed mechanism. Moreover, they listed ways their industry has regulated itself. For example, they said the independent Entertainment Software Ratings Board is setting standards for game companies and providing tools to parents.

“The gaming controls are already there for the parents,” said lobbyist Steve Duke on behalf of ESA. He asked why legislators would drag “the good actors … into this?” Duke called for “some type of amendment to at least recognize the people that are working to provide parents with this information and the people that are working with law enforcement."

Johnson appeared incredulous, however. “If it's paramount to the interest of the industry … to protect our children,” the lawmaker asked how the sector could object to a bill that protects children, even if only a small percentage. “How can you oppose that?”

Likewise, Rep. Josh Carlson (R) asked why the industry had a problem with something it claimed to be doing already. ESA’s other lobbyist, Hannah Duke, noted that the industry was especially concerned with the bill including a private right of action. She suggested limiting enforcement to the state attorney general.

However, lawmakers continued to push back. "It's frankly not a good look for your clients to be up here,” said Rep. John Wyble (R). “We have to protect children.”

App Store Bill

Later at the Louisiana House Commerce hearing, Rep. Kim Carver (R) welcomed the tech industry’s input on his bill, HB-570, that requires age verification by app stores before users can download apps. The legislator asked to delay consideration of the legislation amid talks.

“We are in the middle of working on some solutions, potentially, that multiple players in Big Tech have offered -- some of them came late over the weekend,” said Carver. “But I am thrilled with the idea that we're kind of all working together to thread the needle. My commitment to you and to them publicly is that I'm going to run a bill ... that protects kids, and if they want to be a part of that, then I welcome them to the table to do that.”

HB-570 received support from Meta, which has backed similar bills in other states that put the onus of age verification on app stores rather than social media companies. Nicole Lopez, Meta director of global litigation strategy for youth, noted that 17 states have introduced app store age-verification bills and Utah enacted one (see 2503270047).

“While Meta has a multi-layered approach to determining somebody's age, we are only one part of the online ecosystem,” said Lopez. “The reality is that kids are getting devices and phones at a younger age, and they hop from app to app to app to app.”

However, the Computer and Communications Industry Association opposes the bill, said Tom Mann, state policy manager for the South. CCIA supports protecting kids online but believes that “every approach to age determination presents trade-offs between accuracy and privacy,” said Mann: Verifying age might mean requiring users to provide even more personal data.