Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires parental consent for social media use for minors under age 16, and allows Indiana's attorney general to sue social media operators that don't comply.

Highlights:

• Establishes the verifiable parental consent for social media for “minor users” who are defined as individuals less than sixteen years of age (Sec. 1-11).

• Specifies social media as the following (Sec. 1-11):

• A website or internet application that allows a person to create an account or profile to communicate or interact with other users to:

• Create content

• Share content and information; or

• View content and information that is shared by other users.

• Specifies the term does not include a website or other Internet-based application that: 

• A user accesses for the sole purpose of interactive gaming;

• Is designed to facilitate communication and operations between employees, affiliates, or contractors of a business, governmental entity, or nonprofit organization;

• Facilitates only electronic mail;

• Consists of content that is: 

• Preselected by the entity that owns, operates, or hosts the website or other internet-based application; and

• not user-generated; or

• Facilitates crowdsourcing of content to create visual aids such as charts, graphs, diagrams, and infographics.

• Establishes a social media operator as the individual who owns, operates, or hosts social media that can be accessed in Indiana and specifies that device manufacturers are not included (Sec. 1-11).

• Requires “verifiable parental consent”  which is reasonably designed to ensure that the person providing  the consent is a parent or legal guardian of the minor user (CH 24)

• Prohibits a social media operation from allowing a minor user to view social media without parental consent (Sec. 1-11).

• Requires social media operators to identify an account of minor users and if they have parental consent or not (Sec. 1-11).

• Requires the social media operator to use all commercially reasonable methods to secure all information collected  (Sec. 1-11).

• Establishes a notice of violation to be sent to all social media operators who violate this chapter (Sec. 1-11).

• Establishes a 90-day window from the date of the notice to fix the violation (Sec. 1-11).

• Authorizes the right of the attorney general to bring action if the violation is not fixed and establishes a civil penalty of no more than $250,000 (Sec. 1-11).

Full Bill Text