What This Bill Does
This bill lets parents sue social media companies if those companies do not give parents access to their child's account data or let parents delete their child's account. The bill requires social media companies to collect parent contact information when a child creates an account and to notify the parent that an account was created.
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Who It Affects
- Parents or guardians of children under 18 years old
- Social media companies that allow minors to create accounts
- Courts handling civil lawsuits
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Key Provisions
- Social media companies must collect a parent's full legal name and email address when a minor child creates an account (Sec. 2(b)(1))
- Social media companies must notify the parent that their child created an account (Sec. 2(b)(2))
- Parents can sue in federal or state court if a social media company denies them access to all data about how their child uses the platform, or denies them the ability to delete their child's account and associated data (Sec. 2(d)(1))
- Parents who win a lawsuit can receive court orders stopping the company's actions, money damages including triple damages in certain cases, and attorney's fees (Sec. 2(d)(1))
- A social media company does not have to follow these rules if it took reasonable steps to verify the user's age and did not know the user was a minor (Sec. 2(d)(2))
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What Changes
Social media companies must begin collecting parent contact information and sending notifications when minors create accounts. Parents gain the legal right to request and receive their child's account data and can force deletion of accounts through court action if companies refuse.
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Important Definitions
- "Minor child" means anyone younger than 18 years old (Sec. 2(a)(4))
- "Contact information" means a person's full legal name and email address (Sec. 2(a)(1))
- "Social media company" means a business that provides an interactive computer service through a website, application or mobile app where users create accounts to view, create or modify content that others can see or interact with (Sec. 2(a)(2) and 2(a)(5))
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Effective Date
This bill becomes law 180 days after it is signed into law. It does not apply to any activity that happened before that date (Sec. 2(e)).
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 564
To permit parents to bring a civil action against social media companies
that fail to provide parental access and data control rights with respect
to the social media accounts of minor children, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 28, 2023
Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To permit parents to bring a civil action against social media
companies that fail to provide parental access and data
control rights with respect to the social media accounts
of minor children, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Parental Data Rights
4
Act’’.
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SEC. 2. PARENTAL SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ACCESS.
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(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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•S 564 IS
(1) CONTACT INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘con-
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tact information’’, with respect to an individual,
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means—
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(A) the full legal name of the individual;
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and
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(B) the email address of the individual.
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(2) COVERED INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERV-
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ICE.—The term ‘‘covered interactive computer serv-
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ice’’ means an interactive computer service—
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(A) that is provided through a website, on-
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line application, or mobile application (including
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a single interactive computer service that is pro-
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vided through more than 1 such website or ap-
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plication);
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(B) through which information provided by
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another information content provider is distrib-
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uted; and
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(C) that enables an individual user to cre-
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ate an account for the purpose of viewing, gen-
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erating, or modifying content that can be
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viewed, shared, or otherwise interacted with by
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other third-party users of the interactive com-
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puter service.
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(3) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER; INTER-
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ACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The terms ‘‘informa-
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•S 564 IS
tion content provider’’ and ‘‘interactive computer
1
service’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-
2
tion 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
3
U.S.C. 230(f)).
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(4) MINOR
CHILD.—The term ‘‘minor child’’
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means an individual who is younger than 18 years
6
of age.
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(5) SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY.—The term ‘‘social
8
media company’’—
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(A) means an entity that provides, in or
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affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a cov-
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ered interactive computer service; and
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(B) does not include an organization de-
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scribed in section 501(c) of the Internal Rev-
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enue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation
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under section 501(a) of such Code.
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(b) PARENTAL NOTIFICATION.—A social media com-
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pany that permits a minor child to create an account with
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the social media company shall—
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(1) at the time the minor child creates the ac-
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count, require the collection of the contact informa-
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tion of a parent or guardian of that minor child; and
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(2) notify the parent or guardian, the contact
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information of whom is collected under paragraph
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•S 564 IS
(1), regarding the creation of the account described
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in that paragraph.
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(c) LIABILITY.—A social media company shall be lia-
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ble in accordance with this section to—
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(1) any individual who requests, and is denied
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access to, all data regarding the use, by a minor
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child in the custody of the individual, of the covered
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interactive computer service provided by the social
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media company; and
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(2) any individual who requests and is denied
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the ability to delete—
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(A) an account maintained with the social
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media company by a minor child in the custody
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of the individual; and
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(B) all data associated with the account
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described in subparagraph (A).
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(d) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who makes a
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request under subsection (c) (and who is entitled to
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have the applicable social media company take ac-
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tion under that subsection in response to that re-
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quest), may, if that request is denied by the social
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media company, bring a civil action against the so-
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cial media company in an appropriate district court
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•S 564 IS
of the United States, or in a State court of com-
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petent jurisdiction, for—
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(A) injunctive relief;
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(B) punitive damages, with treble damages
4
available if, because of the negligence or inac-
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tion of that social media company, the indi-
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vidual did not receive from that social media
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company a notification to which the individual
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was entitled under subsection (b)(2); and
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(C) attorney’s fees and costs.
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(2) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—It shall be an af-
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firmative defense to an action brought against a so-
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cial media company under paragraph (1) that the
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social media company, at all relevant times—
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(A) took reasonable, affirmative steps to
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ascertain the age of each user of the covered
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interactive computer service provided by the so-
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cial media company; and
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(B) did not know, and had no reason to
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know, that the user that is the subject of the
20
action was a minor child when the user used
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the covered interactive computer service pro-
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vided by the social media company.
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(e) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—This Act—
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(1) shall take effect on the date that is 180
1
days after the date of enactment of this Act; and
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(2) shall not apply to any use of a covered
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interactive computer service that occurred before the
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effective date described in paragraph (1).
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Æ
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