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Mississippi Enacts Children's Online Safety Law
Practical Law Legal Update w-043-2906 (Approx. 4 pages)
Mississippi Enacts Children's Online Safety Law
by Practical Law Data Privacy & Cybersecurity
| Published on 14 May 2024 • Mississippi |
Mississippi has enacted the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act, which protects Mississippi minors under age 18 by placing several new restrictions on digital service providers that offer online websites, programs, applications, or software to Mississippi minors. The Act limits digital service providers' collection and use of minors' personal information, requires verification and parental consent before a minor can create an account, and provides for a limited private right of action.
On April 30, 2024, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act (HB 1126) (WMPCOA), which applies to persons who provide a digital service that:
- Connects users in a manner that allows them to socially interact.
- Allows a user to create a profile for purposes of signing into and using the digital service.
- Allows a user to create or post content shared with other users.
Digital service providers must:
- Require prospective account holders to register their age.
- Use commercially reasonable means to verify age.
- Prohibit minors under age 18 from obtaining an account without express parental consent.
- Collect and use minors' personal information only to the extent reasonably necessary to provide the digital service.
The WMPCOA prohibits digital service providers from:
- Collecting minors' precise geolocation data.
- Using minors' personal information for targeted advertising involving harmful material.
- Sharing, disclosing, or selling the minor's personal information unless they are complying with a governmental or law enforcement investigation, preventing the distribution of harmful material to the minor, blocking spam, preventing criminal activity, or protecting digital service security.
The WMPCOA permits a minor's parent or guardian to seek a declaratory judgment or injunction for violations. In addition, the Mississippi attorney general has enforcement authority under state consumer protection law.
The law takes effect July 1, 2024.