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The Senate Committee on Children and Youth Health approved two bills from Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, Thursday that would create barriers for minors to access adult content.
SB186 is similar to a bill that has been on the agenda in the Legislature numerous times over the last few years, requiring the manufacturers of telecommunications devices to enable filters by default on all products being utilized by minors.
SB187 takes a different approach, requiring app store providers to verify the ages of users and require minor accounts be linked to a parental account to approve app downloads.
Chambliss equated the current state of the app store to a “pack-a-sack” where children can access adult material without any barriers.
“What we’re dealing with here today is a digital pack-a-sack where kids can go to these stores and obtain things that their minds are not yet developed enough to handle,” Chambliss said.
Stephanie Smith, president and CEO of the right-wing think tank Alabama Policy Institute, told lawmakers that SB186 is asking manufacturers to simply “unhide” existing filters and activate them so that children are restricted from seeing adult material.
Justin Hill, a representative of tech trade association NetChoice, said his group has sat down with lawmakers across the country to try to accomplish the goal of protecting children “without violating the first amendment rights of all citizens across the country.”
NetChoice has successfully sued to stop similar laws from going into effect in states like Utah on First Amendment grounds.
Theresa Garcia Robertson, southeast policy manager for Meta, urged lawmakers to adopt SB187.
“The reality is that kids are getting smartphones at increasingly younger ages and they hop from app to app to app,” Robertson said. “… We believe the easiest, most accurate and most privacy-protective solution is to require app stores to verify ages and get a parent’s approval any time their teen under 16 wants to download an app.”
Hill from NetChoice voiced opposition to SB187 as well, citing First Amendment issues.
“I’ve worked on this same bill in all those states just listed, and those representatives and senators agreed there were First Amendment issues with this bill because you have to cast a wide net across all users to make them prove they are an adult before they have access to information,” Hill said.
The committee approved both bills, setting them up for consideration by the full Senate. If approved by the Senate, they would then need to go through the House before having a chance to be signed into law.
