On February 8, 2024, House Bill 2858 for Protecting Children on Social Media Act was introduced to the House of Representatives. If enacted, the bill would introduce requirements to online providers for minors, including:

• establishing default settings for the online service, product, or feature that provide the maximum degree of privacy;
• allowing minors to opt out of the collection and use of their personal information;
• prohibiting a minor's personal information from being used by any person or entity to target advertising to the minor;
• accepting a fiduciary duty that prioritizes the minor's interests over those of the online platform; and
• developing content filters for users to limit cyberbullying on the social media platform.

Additionally, the bill states that each business in Arizona that provides or allows minors access to social media platforms to use protections that prohibit any users who are at least 18 years of age from sending a message on the platform to a minor under the age of 18 years and prohibit minors under the age of 16 years from using the platform without first receiving approval from their parent or guardian.

Lastly, the bill also provides definitions for terms such as 'de-identified data,' 'personal information,' and 'social media platform.'

You can read the bill here and track its progress here.

Amendments to bill on online provider requirements for minors adopted

On February 19, 2024, amendments to the bill made by the Committee on Appropriations (the Committee) were adopted.

The amendments include clarifying what is not included in the definition of 'online service, product, or feature' and add public or semipublic internet-based services or applications that facilitate academic or scholarly research as a service or application that is not considered as a 'social media platform' under the bill.

You can read the amendments here, read the bill here, and track its progress here.