House Bill 463 seeks to place guardrails around online age verification, having parents or guardians send information documenting a child's age to social media companies. The goal is to press the platforms to provide more internal controls that parents can leverage to monitor and, in some cases, block a child's access through a social media "kill switch."
The bill would mandate that social media companies limit the use and collection of identifying information for those under 18, the selling of their user data, location tracking, targeted advertising of products not suited to minors, and disallow underage users from making transactions not protected by the First Amendment, among other items.
Bill drafters also hope to curb online bullying and exploitation. A homeschool mother who identified herself by first name only testified that her son was groomed by an online predator and told to tell authorities his family was abusive "so that he could be removed from the home and run away with this groomer and my son actually attempted to do that."
Most reaction to the bill was supportive, though a handful of lawmakers questioned whether the regulations would deter minors who are often much more tech savvy than their parents.
"My question is how logically would that work and how responsive do these companies need to be?" Rep. Nima Kulkarni asked during the committee hearing Wednesday.
Enforcement of the law would be delegated to the state Attorney General's office.
Similar laws have been passed in other states but are facing court challenges. The Kentucky bill is on its way to the House.
