By Elaine S. Povich
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — To address the harmful effects of pornography and social media on children, states are passing laws meant to keep kids off certain sites and to block them from adult content.

But the efforts face major hurdles — and real questions about whether the proposed solutions would even work.

Some of the measures would require parental permission for minors to access certain websites. Others call for tech companies to install obscenity filters on devices sold to minors. Lawmakers have passed legislation in both blue and red states, from California to Texas.

Two of the most stringent laws already face legal challenges over free speech and privacy considerations.

Critics also say the laws go too far in undermining parental rights – ceding control to the state. And there are the practical concerns that kids, being generally more technologically savvy than their parents, will find ways to circumvent even the most tightly drawn laws.

“It’s something more like, ‘I’m doing something about tech [problems]’ than a real crackdown,” said Max Rieper, legislative analyst for MultiState, a government relations firm focusing on states. “Kids know how to get around these laws,” he added, mentioning virtual private networks (VPNs) as just one way.

Rieper suggested a federal law would be somewhat more effective than a patchwork of state laws or regulations. But a bill in Congress to tackle underage use of social media has gotten nowhere.

Harmful social media

Social media dangers for kids are well documented. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory last month saying that social media can harm the “mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” He noted that social media use among kids and teens is “nearly universal,” with up to 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds reporting using a social media platform, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and the like.

State lawmakers have been trying to address the issue. California last year enacted into law a sweeping measure designed to force tech companies to install child protections — such as turning on the highest level of privacy settings and forbidding collection of children’s precise locations unless the user is aware that such data is being collected — on products including games, social networks, voice assistants and educational digital learning devices.

Opponents said the new law — the first of its kind in the country — is too broad and impossible to enforce.

The law calls for civil penalties, including fines, for companies that fail to comply. Some manufacturers suggested they might have to retool products that are sold across the country rather than install special software for California.

The technology trade group NetChoice sued in December to block the law. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, citing the surgeon general’s advisory, called on the group to drop the suit.

Lawmakers in Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas filed bills this year to require companies to install obscenity filters on all types of devices that can be turned on when sold if the device will be used by a minor, according to tracking by MultiState. However, the Florida, Idaho and Montana bills died.

Utah attempt

Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed similar legislation in 2021, but the bill included a requirement that it will not take effect unless at least five additional states adopt their own bills. So far, none has, although a bill did pass the Alabama House and is now in the state Senate.

Utah is the latest state to enact two laws aimed at blocking minors from porn sites and keeping kids away from social media unless they have explicit parental sign-off. Parental permission laws require proof, such as a digital ID, that the user is a legal adult before being allowed on social media platforms.

If a Utah minor wants to sign up, companies must get parental consent. The law also requires the companies to lock minors out of social media accounts between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., based on the location of the user’s device, unless a parent specifies different hours.

In April, Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a measure that bars social media companies from allowing minors to hold accounts without parental consent.

A Texas parental consent bill is on the governor’s desk but was unsigned as of June 7.

And Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in April signed two bills designed to block minors’ access to online pornography.

Some are criticizing the legislation as an unconstitutional assault on freedom of speech.

As soon as the Utah porn age verification bill became law, a group called the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the pornography industry, filed suit asking for enforcement to be halted.

Read the rest of the story here.