A ban on social media accounts for children under 14 passed the Alaska House Friday with significant bipartisan support, despite some opposition citing privacy and constitutional concerns.
If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the ban would also require 14- and 15-year-olds to get written parental consent before creating social media accounts. Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat, added the social media limits to a bill requiring adult websites to verify users’ ages.
The social media proposal was added late in the process as an amendment to another bill and hasn’t been subject to public hearings or legislative scrutiny beyond a brief floor debate. Though a separate bill with different social media restrictions for kids was introduced in January, it has not faced a public hearing.
Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, sponsored the original bill, which she described as an effort to protect children from pornography. Vance was one of several members from both parties who said they expected the Senate to make changes to the social media components of the bill.
“I want to let everyone know that I’m willing to work with those in the Senate on what the full intent of that is, so that we can make this a more robust package and really help do everything that we can to protect our children,” Vance said on the House floor.
The bill passed by a 33-6 vote with support from Democrats, Republicans and independents. But some lawmakers expressed concerns.
Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, who spoke out in support of the social media restrictions for children, said the age verification elements of the bill gave her pause.
“Age verification technology continues to improve, and there might be a scenario in the future where it is safe enough to protect people from privacy concerns, but really, I am very concerned about privacy for all individuals who might have to comply with this type of commercial age verification technology,” Mina said.
Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks, was another of the six votes against the bill. She said she wasn’t sure it would stand up in court.
“Alaska has very strict rights to privacy in our Constitution,” she said. “We’re one of the states with some of the most strident and strong languages around right to privacy, and I do think that if this were to be up against a legal challenge, it could definitively, probably, be ruled as unconstitutional.”
Age verification bills aimed at adult websites have a mixed record in federal court, though some recent laws in other states have been allowed to stand. Social media restrictions for children have been blocked on First Amendment grounds by federal courts in some states.
The bill would also allow parents to be reimbursed by the state up to $100 a year to pay for parental control software. The package now heads to the Senate.
Eric Stone covers state government, tracking the Alaska Legislature, state policy and its impact on all Alaskans. Reach him at estone@alaskapublic.org.
