|
House Bill 5380 would create the Let Parents Choose Protection
Act, or Sammy’s Law, to require that social media companies
provide children’s social media data to third-party apps, which
parents could access. Sammy’s Law is named for 16-year-old Sammy
Chapman, who died after buying fentanyl-laced drugs through
video messaging app Snapchat.
“It’s about giving parents a choice to securely use third-party
safety apps for any social media platform that allows children
users,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz,
D-Glenview.
Rose Bronstein of Chicago, who lost her son to suicide in 2021
after he was cyberbullied online, testified before the House
Consumer Protection Committee.
“I want to emphasize to this committee how harmful and dangerous
just one student’s singular action can be to another child
online,” said Bronstein.
Hope Ledford, a spokesperson from the tech industry coalition
Chamber of Progress, said her group opposes the legislation.
“While it’s important to encourage parental involvement to
ensure a minor’s safety online, parents are now always the best
choice to control how their child uses an online platform,” said
Ledford. “Consent laws, for example, could be weaponized by
divorced parents who share custody of a child.”
Lawmakers voted to move the measure out of the House Consumer
Protection Committee last week. Gong-Gershowitz expects the
legislation to be voted on by the Illinois House in early April.
A new law went into effect in Ohio this year that requires
social media companies to verify a parent is aware a child under
the age of 16 will be using social media or a gaming service.
Anyone under 16 who tries to sign into their social media
account needs to get their parents’ permission.
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
