Senate Take Major Steps to Protect Children From Danger Online
By State Senator Page Walley
Our Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee concluded its business for the Session, while several other committees set their final calendars. All nine standing committees completed our budget hearings where we closely examined 63 total budgets from state departments and agencies.
Last week, lawmakers prioritized legislation to protect children from harmful online content, as well as protect the religious freedom of foster and adoptive parents in Tennessee. Other legislation advanced this week to crack down on the opioid crisis by punishing distributors of deadly drugs and expanding the ability for providers to treat opioid addiction.
This week, we will start to turn our attention toward the 2024-2025 budget and begin submitting appropriations amendments to request funding for legislation or other budget items.
Protecting Children from Social Media Act
It is vital to ensure the safety and well-being of Tennessee youth in the digital age. With the exponential growth of social media platforms, the Protecting Children from Social Media Act aims to safeguard children from harmful content found on social media.
The evidence is clear: social media has harmful effects for children, teens and young adults. Oftentimes young children create social media accounts without their parents knowledge or consent. The unsupervised use of social media by children is not only inappropriate but can be potentially harmful to those children.
This legislation puts parents back in the driver’s seat of their children’s social media usage. It lays out clear steps social media companies must take to verify the ages of users to protect Tennessee children and empower parents.
The bill would require social media companies to verify the age of any individual creating an account on their platform. If the account holder is a minor, the company must obtain express consent from the parent or guardian for the account creation.
Additionally, the bill would require social media companies to provide parents and guardians with account restriction options for their child. These restrictions include privacy settings, daily time restrictions, and implemented breaks from the platform.
Shielding children from online pornography
Related to this, we also advanced a bill seeking to shield kids from the harmful effects of pornography.
Senate Bill 1792 seeks to prevent children from accessing explicit adult content by requiring online media companies and operators to verify users’ age for access.
Introducing children to pornography constitutes a type of sexual abuse and exploitation, with profound implications for their intellectual growth and emotional health. We need to make every effort to prevent children from accessing online sites with content that is not only extremely inappropriate for children, but can damage their development and impact their relationships.
Known as the Protect Tennessee Minors Act, the bill would require companies to verify users are at least 18 using a valid form of identification issued in the United States.
The legislation would create a Class C felony for website owners and operators convicted of violating the law. The Tennessee Department of Homeland Security would be responsible for enforcing compliance with the law.
General Assembly passes bill ensuring local governments enforce laws
We approved legislation, which I co-sponsored, ensuring local governments cannot nullify state laws. Primarily but not exclusively aimed at recent actions in Memphis, this bill will prevent local governments or officials from limiting the ability of law enforcement to conduct a traffic stop if a local, state or federal law is believed to have been violated.
It ensures law enforcement is not prohibited from investigating suspected traffic-related violations like speeding, expired tags, broken headlights or taillights, or loose bumpers.
We’re in the last months of the legislation session. I look forward to hearing from you as we wind down. Please reach out to me about any issues important to you at (615) 741-2368 or sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov.
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