WFCN –
The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news company that informs and engages Texans about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues, originally published the article “Tech groups challenge Texas law requiring parental consent for kids’ social media accounts.”.
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On Tuesday, two tech industry groups—NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association—filed a lawsuit to block a new Texas law. The law would have required social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to track the age of all users and obtain parental consent before minors could create an account.
House Bill 18, or the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, was passed by the Texas legislature in 2023 with the purpose of limiting the access of minors to social media platforms and, if granted access, to safeguard them from potentially hazardous content.
Legislator Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) introduced the measure with the goal of granting parents greater oversight over the data collection and use practices of “digital service providers,” or businesses that run websites, apps, programs, or software that record or handle personally identifiable information.
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A number of mental health difficulties, including higher rates of self-harm, suicide, substance misuse, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and other similar problems, were attributed by lawmakers to children’s excessive use of digital platforms. “Texas parents have had enough,” Slawson stated following the bill’s passage by a House committee.
Providers of digital services are required by law to seek parental or guardian approval before enabling a minor to register for an account. In addition, it mandates that these businesses make it easy for parents to keep an eye on their children when they use their digital services.
Additionally, the legislation mandates that social media companies devise measures to shield youngsters from “harmful” information, which includes posts that encourage substance misuse or self-harm.
Effective September 1, the law is operative
The communications and technology sectors’ interest groups, CCIA and NetChoice, filed suit. Meta, X, Google, and eBay are all part of it.
According to the plaintiffs’ legal brief, HB 18 restricts the access of children to lawful speech and forces websites to monitor and remove specific forms of communication, which violates the free expression rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The plaintiffs contend that the material of the websites they represent is properly moderated and that parents already have the means to control their children’s internet use.
The legal brief relied significantly on the recent complaint lodged by CCIA and NetChoice against House Bill 20, a Texas bill that would prohibit major social media companies from removing user content based on their political opinions and is set to take effect in 2021.
“Repeatedly, Texas has passed a statute that specifically targets unpopular online publishers and the distribution of legally protected and valuable expression on the internet,” the lawsuit reads.
According to the state: The Texas Tribune reached out to Attorney General Ken Paxton for comment, but he did not answer right away. Paxton is named as a defendant in the complaint.
Impact on society at large: HB 18 is one of several state legislation that aim to control the content moderation practices of social media platforms. This case’s decision may have implications for similar instances in other jurisdictions, including Texas.