S0022B0869A02016 MSP:CDM 09/18/23 #90 A02016
AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL NO. 22
Sponsor: SENATOR PHILLIPS-HILL
Printer's No. 869
Amend Bill, page 2, line 6, by striking out "Cause of Action"
and inserting
Unlawful Activity
Amend Bill, page 2, lines 23 and 24, by striking out "Social
media platforms are designed to be addictive, with teenagers at
particular risk of excessive use."
Amend Bill, page 3, lines 18 through 23, by striking out
"social media can" in line 18 and all of lines 19 through 23 and
inserting
"more research is needed to fully understand the impact
of social media; however, the current body of evidence
indicates that while social media may have benefits for some
children and adolescents, there are ample indicators that
social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the
mental health and well-being of children and adolescents."
The advisory recommends a range of policies to consider,
including "policies that further limit access - in ways that
minimize the risk of harm - to social media for all children,
including strengthening and enforcing age minimums."
Amend Bill, page 4, lines 7 through 9, by striking out all of
said lines
Amend Bill, page 4, by inserting between lines 18 and 19
"Personalized recommendation system." A fully or partially
automated system that is based on a user's historical activity
data and which suggests, promotes or ranks information that is
presented or displayed to users.
Amend Bill, page 4, lines 24 through 30; page 5, lines 1
through 10; by striking out all of said lines on said pages and
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inserting
"Social media platform." A public or semipublic Internet-
based service or application that has users in this Commonwealth
and that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) A substantial function of the service or application
is to connect users in order to allow users to interact
socially with each other within the service or application,
provided that a service or application that provides email or
direct messaging services or cloud computing shall not be
considered to meet this criterion solely on the basis of that
function.
(2) The service or application allows users to do all of
the following:
(i) Construct a public or semipublic profile for
purposes of signing into and using the service or
application.
(ii) Populate a list of other users with whom an
individual shares a social connection within the system.
(iii) Create or post content viewable by other
users, including, but not limited to, on message boards,
in chat rooms or through a landing page or main feed that
presents the user with content generated by other users.
Amend Bill, page 5, lines 11 and 12; page 6, lines 13 through
1; by striking out all of said lines on said pages and inserting
SUBCHAPTER B
UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY
Sec.
1110. Unlawful activity.
§ 1110. Unlawful activity.
(a) Unlawful activity.--It shall be unlawful for a social
media company or a social media platform to intentionally,
knowingly, recklessly or negligently cause or encourage a minor
to access content which the social media company knows or should
have known subjects one or more minors to harm that is
detrimental to the physical health, mental health or the well-
being of a minor or that creates a reasonable likelihood of
bodily injury or death to the minor.
(b) Exclusive jurisdiction.--The Attorney General shall have
exclusive jurisdiction for violations of this section.
Amend Bill, page 6, line 2, by striking out "(b)" and
inserting
(c)
Amend Bill, page 6, line 10, by striking out "Reasonable
attorney fees and court costs." and inserting
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Actual attorney fees and court costs incurred by the
Attorney General.
Amend Bill, page 6, by inserting between lines 13 and 14
(d) Deposit.--Damages recovered under subsection (c)(3) and
(4) shall be deposited into the School Safety and Security Fund
to be used exclusively for mental health-related services for
students.
Amend Bill, page 6, line 14, by striking out "(c)" and
inserting
(e)
Amend Bill, page 6, lines 15 and 16, by striking out "ability
of a person to receive a civil" in line 15 and all of line 16
and inserting
Attorney General's ability to bring an action under other
provisions of law.
Amend Bill, page 6, line 17, by striking out "(d)" and
inserting
(f)
Amend Bill, page 6, line 17, by striking out "a cause of" and
inserting
an
Amend Bill, page 6, lines 20 and 21, by striking out "harm
while using the social media company's" in line 20 and all of
line 21 and inserting
content that the social media company knew or should have
known subjects a minor to harm and is detrimental to the
physical health, mental health or the well-being of a minor or
that creates a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury or death
to the minor resulting from the use of the social media
company's platform.
Amend Bill, page 6, line 26, by striking out "Approval
prohibited" and inserting
Age assurance
Amend Bill, page 7, lines 3 through 30; page 8, lines 1
through 18; by striking out all of said lines on said pages and
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inserting
§ 1122. Age assurance.
Utilizing commercially available best practices, a social
media platform shall make commercially reasonable efforts to
verify the age of users upon the creation of an account, with a
level of certainty appropriate to the risks that arise from the
information management practices of the social media company, or
apply the accommodations afforded to minors under this chapter
to all account holders.
§ 1123. Duties.
(a) General rule.--A social media company may not permit a
minor residing in this Commonwealth to become an account holder
on a social media platform unless the minor has the express
consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. A social media
platform may obtain express consent from a minor's parent or
legal guardian through any of the following means:
(1) By providing a completed form, developed by the
Attorney General, from a minor's parent or legal guardian to
sign and return to the social media platform via mail or
electronic means.
(2) Through a toll-free telephone number for a minor's
parent or legal guardian to call.
(3) Through a call with a minor's parent or legal
guardian over video conferencing technology.
(4) By collecting information related to the government-
issued identification of a minor's parent or legal guardian,
shared by the parent or legal guardian. A social media
platform shall delete the information related to the
government-issued identification of a minor's parent or legal
guardian after confirming the identify of a minor's parent or
legal guardian.
(5) Allowing a minor's parent or legal guardian to
provide consent by responding to an email and taking
additional steps to verify the identity of a minor's parent
or legal guardian.
(6) Any other commercially reasonable methods of
obtaining consent in light of available technology.
(b) Attorney General.--The Office of Attorney General shall
develop and make available on their publicly accessible Internet
website a form that may be used by a parent or legal guardian to
provide consent for a minor to open a social media account. The
Attorney General shall transmit a copy of the form to each
social media company.
(c) Documentation.--A social media platform shall maintain
documentation as to the manner in which the social media company
has obtained express consent from a minor's parent or legal
guardian. The social media platform may delete the documentation
when the minor is no longer a minor or within the established
time frame by the social media company for maintaining data.
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(d) Social media company.--Each social media company shall
post in a conspicuous place on each of their social media
platforms notice that express consent by the minor's parent or
legal guardian shall be required prior to opening an account.
Any electronic consent included in a social media platform must
include the same information as required by the form developed
by the Attorney General's office under subsection (b).
(e) Failure to obtain consent.--To the extent possible, if a
minor opens a social media account without express consent by
their parent or legal guardian, the social media company shall,
within a reasonable time after discovery of the failure to
obtain the express consent:
(1) suspend the social media account; and
(2) notify the minor's parent or legal guardian that the
minor has attempted to open a social media account without
their consent.
(f) Social media access.--To the extent possible, a social
media company shall provide a minor's parent or legal guardian
who has given express consent for the minor to become an account
holder with a means for the minor's parent or legal guardian to
initiate account supervision. Account supervision may include:
(1) allowing the minor's parent or legal guardian the
ability to view privacy settings of the minor's account;
(2) allowing a minor's parent or legal guardian to set
daily time limits for the minor's account;
(3) allowing a minor's parent or legal guardian to
schedule breaks for the minor's account; and
(4) allowing a minor the option of providing
notifications to the minor's parent or legal guardian if the
minor reports a person or an issue to the social media
platform.
(g) Notification.--A social media platform shall provide
clear notice to the minor on the features of the minor's account
to which the minor's parent or legal guardian may have access.
(h) No account required.--A social media platform may not
require a parent or legal guardian to have their own account as
a condition of a minor being able to open an account.
(i) Notice of alleged violation.--A social media company
shall develop and post notice on its publicly accessible
Internet website of the methods, such as electronic and
telephonic means, by which a minor's parent or legal guardian
may notify the social media company that the minor has opened a
social media account on its social media platform without the
required consent.
Amend Bill, page 8, lines 20 and 21, by striking out "A
parent or legal guardian of a minor who has provided written "
and inserting
A minor's parent or legal guardian who has provided express
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Amend Bill, page 8, line 23, by striking out "company" where
it occurs the second time and inserting
platform
Amend Bill, page 8, line 25, by striking out "written" and
inserting
express
Amend Bill, page 8, line 27, by striking out "company" and
inserting
platform
Amend Bill, page 8, line 29, by striking out "24 hours of"
and inserting
a reasonable time frame from the
Amend Bill, page 9, lines 3 through 8, by striking out ", a
district attorney of" in line 3, all of lines 4 through 7 and
"may" in line 8 and inserting
shall have jurisdiction to
Amend Bill, page 9, line 10, by striking out "written" and
inserting
express
Amend Bill, page 9, lines 11 and 12, by striking out "or
district attorney"
Amend Bill, page 9, lines 23 and 24, by striking out "by the
Attorney General or a district attorney"
Amend Bill, page 10, line 1, by inserting after "operating"
accounts for minors
Amend Bill, page 10, lines 3 through 17, by striking out all
of said lines and inserting
(c) Use of recovered fees.--Civil fees collected under
subsection (b) shall be deposited into the School Safety and
Security Fund to be used exclusively for mental health-related
services for school entities.
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(d) Good faith.--It shall be a defense to an action under
subsection (a) if a social media company allows for the creation
or opening of an account for a minor based on a good faith
belief that the minor has obtained the express consent required
under this subchapter.
Amend Bill, page 11, lines 4 through 24, by striking out all
of said lines and inserting
"Sale," "sell" or "sold." The exchange of personal
information for monetary consideration by the business to a
third party. The term does not include:
(1) The disclosure of personal information to a
processor that processes the personal information on behalf
of the business.
(2) The disclosure of personal information to a third
party for purposes of providing a product or service
requested by the consumer.
(3) The disclosure or transfer of personal information
to an affiliate of the business.
(4) The disclosure of information that the consumer:
(i) intentionally made available to the general
public via a channel of mass media; and
(ii) did not restrict to a specific audience.
(5) The disclosure or transfer of personal information
to a third party as an asset that is part of a merger,
acquisition, bankruptcy or other transaction in which the
third party assumes control of all or part of the business's
assets.
"Targeted advertising." The displaying of advertisements to
a consumer where the advertisement is selected based on personal
information obtained from that consumer's activities over time
and across nonaffiliated websites or online applications to
predict such consumer's preferences or interests. The term does
not include:
(1) advertisements based on activities within a social
media platform's own websites or online applications;
(2) advertisements based on the context of a consumer's
current search query, visit to a website or online
application;
(3) advertisements directed to a consumer in response to
the consumer's request for information or feedback; or
(4) processing personal information processed solely for
measuring or reporting advertising performance, reach or
frequency.
"Third party." An individual or legal entity, public
authority, agency or body, other than the consumer, business or
processor or an affiliate of the processor or the business.
§ 1132. Prohibitions.
(a) Mining.--A social media company may not mine data
related to a minor who has opened a social media account,
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notwithstanding if the account was opened with the express
consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. This subsection
shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) Data regarding age and location for purposes of
personalized recommendations related to age-appropriate
content.
(2) The mining of data necessary to protect minors from
viewing harmful content.
(3) Mining of data beyond what is adequate, relevant and
reasonably necessary in relation to the purpose for which the
data is processed, as disclosed.
(b) Sale of data.--A social media company may not sell or
profit from personal information related to a minor who has
opened a social media account, or engage in targeted advertising
based on a minor's age, gender or interests, notwithstanding if
the account was opened with the express consent of a minor's
parent or legal guardian.
(c) Personalized recommendations.--A social media platform
may provide a prominent, accessible and responsive tool for a
user who is a minor to opt in of the use of search and watch
history for use in personalized recommendation systems. A social
media platform may not use a personalized recommendation system
unless a minor opts in.
§ 1133. Violations.
(a) Actions.--The Attorney General shall have jurisdiction
to bring an action against a social media company that
knowingly, intentionally or negligently violates a prohibition
under section 1132 (relating to prohibitions).
Amend Bill, page 12, lines 4 and 5, by striking out "by the
Attorney General, district attorney or unit of government"
Amend Bill, page 12, line 17, by inserting after "operating"
accounts for minors
Amend Bill, page 12, lines 19 and 20, by striking out
"Attorney General use of recovered fees.--For an action brought
by the Attorney General, civil" and inserting
Use of recovered fees.--Civil
Amend Bill, page 12, lines 24 through 30; page 13, lines 1
through 8; by striking out all of said lines on said pages and
inserting
(d) Good faith.--It shall be a defense to an action under
subsection (a) if a social media company takes good faith
actions to limit the personal information mined from a minor or
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acts in good faith to prohibit the sale of personal information
of a minor.
§ 1134. Removal.
(a) Process.--In response to a request from a qualified
individual, a social media platform shall provide such
individual the ability to correct or delete personal information
that the qualified individual has provided to the social media
platform or that the social media platform obtained about the
qualified individual. Deidentified information may be considered
deleted for purposes of this subchapter.
(b) Fulfilling requests.--To help fulfill requests from a
qualified individual, a social media platform may:
(1) require the qualified individual to reasonably
identify the activities to which the qualified individual's
request relates; and
(2) provide automated tools that allow qualified
individuals to correct or delete personal information under
subsection (a).
Amend Bill, page 13, line 9, by striking out "(b)" and
inserting
(c)
Amend Bill, page 13, line 9, by striking out "company" and
inserting
platform
Amend Bill, page 13, line 13, by striking out "company" and
inserting
platform
Amend Bill, page 13, line 14, by striking out "company" and
inserting
platform
Amend Bill, page 13, line 16, by striking out "(c)" and
inserting
(d)
Amend Bill, page 13, line 17, by striking out "company" and
inserting
platform
Amend Bill, page 13, line 21, by striking out "(d)" and
inserting
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(e)
Amend Bill, page 13, line 21, by striking out "five" and
inserting
90
Amend Bill, page 13, lines 26 and 27, by striking out all of
line 26 and "knowingly or negligently failed" in line 27 and
inserting
(f) Violations.--A social media company that fails
Amend Bill, page 14, line 4, by inserting after "section."
The Attorney General shall have exclusive jurisdiction to
bring an action under this section.
Amend Bill, page 14, lines 5 through 9, by striking out "as
follows:" in line 5 and all of lines 6 through 9 and inserting
January 1, 2025, or in 18 months, whichever is later.
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