Louisiana Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors | Practical Law

Louisiana Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors | Practical Law

Louisiana has enacted the Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act, which protects social media users under 16 years of age by restricting social media access, limiting the collection and use of minors' data, and imposing age verification and parental consent requirements. The state's Division of Public Protection will enforce the Act.

Louisiana Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors

Practical Law Legal Update w-039-9871 (Approx. 4 pages)

Louisiana Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors

by Practical Law Data Privacy & Cybersecurity
Published on 03 Jul 2023 • Louisiana
Louisiana has enacted the Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act, which protects social media users under 16 years of age by restricting social media access, limiting the collection and use of minors' data, and imposing age verification and parental consent requirements. The state's Division of Public Protection will enforce the Act.
On June 28, 2023, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed the Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act (SB 162). SB 162 applies to social media platforms, with certain exceptions, that have 5 million or more account holders worldwide, and protects Louisiana social media users and account holders under 16 years of age.
SB 162 requires social media platforms to:
  • Verify Louisiana account holders' age using commercially reasonable efforts.
  • Obtain express parental consent for a minor to open or hold an account by any of the following means:
    • parental consent forms;
    • toll-free telephone number;
    • video conferencing technology;
    • government-issued identification;
    • email plus additional steps to verify identity; or
    • any other commercially reasonable means of obtaining consent using available technology.
  • Provide parents or guardians a means to supervise minors' accounts by:
    • viewing privacy settings;
    • setting daily time limits; and
    • offering minors' the option to enable parental notifications.
  • Prohibit:
    • minors from opening an account if ineligible pursuant to other state or federal laws;
    • adults from messaging minor account holders unless the minor is already connected to the adult on platform;
    • displaying advertising information based on minor account holders' personal information; and
    • collecting or using information from the account beyond what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary.
SB 162 contains many exceptions to the social media platform definition, for example, companies that predominantly or exclusively offer:
  • Interactive gaming, virtual gaming, or online services that allow users to create and upload content for interactive gaming or entertainment and communication related to that content.
  • Email services.
  • Streaming services that only provide licensed media.
  • News, sports, entertainment, or other content that is preselected by the provider and not user generated.
  • Business-to-business software and video and teleconferencing services.
Louisiana's Division of Public Protection has exclusive enforcement and rulemaking authority.
The Division of Public Protection can impose administrative fines of up to $2,500 per violation and bring an enforcement action against a platform that fails to cure a violation within 45 days. In an enforcement action, the court may:
  • Impose civil penalties up to $2,500 per violation.
  • Issue an injunction.
  • Order disgorgement.
  • Award actual damages to injured consumers.
The Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act goes into effect on July 1, 2024.