A Republican-backed bill would require social media companies to obtain “verified” parental permission before allowing Hoosiers under age 16 to create accounts. Photo from Getty Images.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — One year after Indiana policymakers enacted a law requiring pornography websites to verify users’ ages, a new bill seeks to further restrict Hoosiers under age 16 from creating social media accounts without “verified” parental permission.

Senate Bill 11, authored by Republican Sen. Mike Bohacek, would require a social media operator like Facebook or TikTok to restrict a minor from accessing the site if they did not receive “verifiable parental consent” from the minor’s parent.

As currently drafted, the bill would additionally allow parents and legal guardians to sue social media providers if their child accesses a site without consent.

Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores. Photo courtesy Indiana Senate Republicans.

Indiana’s attorney general could also issue a civil investigative demand if the office has “reasonable cause to believe” the law was violated. If a social media operator “fails to implement a verifiable parental consent method,” the attorney general would further be allowed to ask a judge to step in and stop a minor from accessing the site, and request a civil penalty of up to $250,000 for each violation, according to the bill.

The bill was heard Wednesday, Jan. 8, in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairwoman Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill is expected to be amended and voted on by the committee next week.

“We’re not trying to regulate content, of what’s going on the various social media sites — that’s not what we’re trying to do,” said Bohacek, of Michiana Shores. “We’re looking to see, is just the fact that social media itself — regardless of the content that’s inside of it — is that, in and of itself, creating the mental health issues that we’re having right now with a lot of our kids? And I believe that’s what it is.”

The bill would be effective on July 1, if passed.

During the 2024 session, state lawmakers approved Senate Enrolled Act 17, requiring pornography websites to verify user ages. They hoped to keep children from accessing pornography, but adult content companies sued, arguing the law would be costly to implement and violate First Amendment and privacy rights.

A federal judge blocked enforcement last June before its intended July effectiveness date, but an appeals court later rolled back the preliminary injunction. The law is currently in effect while the litigation continues.

Must Get Consent

Current bill language specifies that “verifiable parental consent” could be obtained “through a method that is reasonably designed to ensure that the person providing the consent is a parent or legal guardian of the minor user.” The proposal also mandates social media providers to establish a procedure to allow a parent or legal guardian to revoke their consent.

At least 10 states have passed laws requiring children’s access to social media be restricted or parental consent gained, and several states’ laws are currently on hold, according to the Age Verification Providers Association, a trade body representing age verification services providers.

Bohacek said he already has multiple amendments to the bill, including to redefine social media, “because the definition we had originally was very, very broad.” The senator said the updated definition will make clear that sites requiring an account, username and password to access content would qualify. Platforms like YouTube, however — which do not necessarily require a user to sign in before accessing the website — would not be included.

Additionally, a provision in the bill to allow parents and guardians to file lawsuits against the companies if their child was subjected to bullying on the social media platform will be removed.

Another anticipated amendment would require the attorney general’s office to give social media companies up to 30 days to remedy violations before any civil action is taken.

Will Restrictions Keep Kids Off Social Media?

Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, questioned whether the bill would actually keep youth from creating online accounts. A virtual private network, or VPN, for example, could allow minors to bypass technology used by social media companies to detect a user’s age.

“If a child used a VPN application in order to get around the law, well, that’s no different than jaywalking or speeding,” Bohacek argued. “You know the law, you went around the law, you just didn’t get caught.”

Concerns were also raised by committee members about joint custody cases, in which one parent or guardian consents to a child’s social media account, but the other parent or guardian does not.

Bohacek said he’d be willing to tweak the bill’s language to clarify that only “a” — meaning one — parent or guardian must provide their permission.

The Indiana Catholic Conference spoke in favor of the bill Wednesday evening. Only Chris Daley, representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, spoke in opposition.

He said the bill “clearly infringes on the First Amendment rights of Hoosiers 15 and down, to the degree that those rights attach at certain ages.” Daley pointed to similar laws in Arkansas and Ohio that judges have enjoined — put on hold — amid ongoing legal challenges. If Senate Bill 11 is approved, he expects the law “will eventually be blocked and overturned.”

“I think we all know that this bill will be challenged, and there’s no reason to believe that a court in Indiana — a trial court, federal trial court — will come to a different conclusion,” Daley said. “These cases in Arkansas and Ohio will be resolved, and that could be the appropriate time we all take action. Or, alternatively to that, we could try to do something meaningful.”

Daley recommended for lawmakers to instead invest in mental health resources for Hoosier youth and focus on educating parents “on steps they can take already” to curb their kids’ internet access.

Brown and other Republicans on the committee pushed back.

“All we’re trying to do here, in my opinion … is to try to give parents a tool which they don’t currently have,” Brown said.