Lawmakers in Nebraska and Vermont passed bills this week that would regulate how social media sites and other online platforms interact with minors.
Both measures, passed Wednesday and Thursday, trace their roots to regulations known as the Age-Appropriate Design Code. Enacted already in California and Maryland, the laws generally require online platforms to set minors’ accounts to the highest privacy settings by default and only collect the data needed to provide them with the service they requested.
The adoption of what are known as Kids Code laws is part of a broader effort by state lawmakers from both parties and from both red and blue states to intervene in the relationship between tech companies and minors to address concerns about their emotional wellbeing and data privacy.
“With the resounding passage of age-appropriate design code legislation in Nebraska and Vermont this year, it’s clear there is momentum across the country in favor of design-based bills that put an onus of responsibility on online platforms to create safer and healthier experiences for young people,” Zach Praiss, head of state strategy at Reset Tech, said in a statement.
California enacted the U.S.’s first version of the law in 2022 and Maryland did last year. The tech industry has sued to overturn both laws, but that hasn’t deterred proponents from trying to export the concept to other states.
Nebraska is the first Republican-led state to pass a design code bill. Sen. Carolyn Bosn (R), the prime sponsor, said she hopes it serves as “a catalyst for a lot of other states to jump on board.”
Kids Code bills were also introduced this year in Illinois and South Carolina, and elements of them were included in a broader New Mexico privacy bill.
Groups like Common Sense Media, Design It For Us, Mothers Against Media Addiction and the Tech Oversight Project have spearheaded the effort under the umbrella of the Kids Code Coalition.
The Kids Code Coalition is also supporting legislation in several states this year to add surgeon general-like warning labels to social media.
The coalition has modified its model Kids Code bill with the goal of inoculating it against lawsuits. This year it dropped a requirement that companies conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments.
Still, industry opposition remains. Tech trade group NetChoice, which is challenging the California and Maryland laws, has said the Kids Code bills violate the First Amendment.
“Courts are consistently ruling that these are censorship regimes masquerading as online safety laws,” Amy Bos, NetChoice director of state and federal affairs, said in a statement. “The First Amendment not only protects free speech, free expression and free thought from government interference — it does so unapologetically. These laws put those very free speech rights for all Americans at risk — online and offline. We urge the states to reject them.”
Bosn told Pluribus News her bill underwent extensive legal review and expressed confidence it is constitutional.
“We don’t want to moderate content, we want to focus on design,” the Nebraska senator said.
The bills in Nebraska and Vermont depart in significant ways from the California and Maryland laws, while still retaining what advocates call a privacy-by-default, safety-by-design framework that requires companies to put the best interests of minors ahead of profits.
Bosn introduced the Nebraska bill at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen (R) as part of a package of youth online safety bills, three of which Pillen already signed into law.
The Vermont bill from Sen. Wendy Harrison (D) represents a second attempt at enacting a Kids Code law. Gov. Phil Scott (R) vetoed a broader privacy bill last year that included design code provisions.
The Nebraska bill aims to empower parents and minors by requiring online companies to provide them with easy-to-access tools to customize their experience. That includes the ability to opt out of unnecessary design features, set daily time limits, restrict in-app purchases, and choose the kind of feed they want.
It would apply to companies with annual gross revenues above $25M or those that derive 50% or more of their revenue from the sale of personal data or handle the data of more than 50,000 consumers. It would cover social media, gaming and streaming services but not online platforms where fewer than 2% of account holders are minors.
The Vermont bill would impose a “minimum duty of care” upon online platforms to ensure their products don’t result in a minor experiencing foreseeable emotional distress, compulsive use, or discrimination. It also requires companies to disclose information about how their algorithmic recommendation system works.
It would cover businesses that generate the majority of their revenue from online services, collect consumer data, and whose products are “reasonably likely” to be accessed by minors.
Both bills include provisions ensuring minor accounts are not visible to unknown adults and limiting how a youth’s data, including their geolocation, is used. They also restrict when companies can send push notifications to minors.
A report last year from Children and Screens and the Institute of Digital Media and Child Development concluded that the Kids Code in the United Kingdom, where it originated, served as a catalyst for major online platforms to change how they interface with minors, “making children’s online experiences safer and better.”
Bosn said her goal is to remove incentives for minors to become addicted to social media. She predicted that if the law goes into effect, it will have a positive impact on youth mental health and social-emotional growth.
“State lawmakers are not waiting for Congress to act,” said Praiss of Reset Tech, “but jumping into action to enact legislation that puts the wellbeing of kids ahead of Big Tech companies’ interests.”