Minors need parental permission to create social media accounts under proposed plan

By KCCI Staff

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Minors in Iowa would have to get permission from their parents to create social media accounts under a proposed bill at the Iowa Statehouse.

The bill passed the Ways and Means Committee on Monday and could be debated on the House floor this week.

The original version of the bill banned Iowans under the age of 18 from creating social media accounts. Republican lawmakers amended the bill to include parental consent after criticism from large tech companies and parents.

The bill now prevents social media companies from collecting data from Iowans under age 18 without “verifiable parental consent.” Republicans behind the bill say this keeps minors safe online, but critics say it does the exact opposite.

TechNet, a national bipartisan network of tech CEOs, says a mandatory age verification would require social media companies to capture “massive amounts of sensitive personally identifiable information.” They say this would essentially force all users to hand over all of this personal data just to use the internet.

“I think we should be free to make choices for ourselves and our kids,” said Morgan Mendieta, a Des Moines parent.

Mendieta says his 9-year-old son does not have social media yet, but if he does in the future, Mendieta does not believe a law is necessary to monitor it.

“I personally would rather take that into my own hands and decide for him since he is my boy,” said Mendieta.

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