Public Comments for: HB1624 - Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms; addictive feed prohibited for minors.
The Consumer Choice Center expresses concern with VA HB1624 which requires that social media networks identify their users to classify those under 18 years of age and require parental consent if said platforms provide what the legislation broadly declares are “addictive feeds”. The bill also restricts social media firms from offering alternative products to minors. The goal of protecting children online and steering them toward healthy uses of technology and social media is an important and noble goal that we also champion. However, due to the language in this bill and the effects it would have on practically all users of social media, the measure would cause more harm than good. HB1624 would have a worrying impact on the ability of anyone – minor or adult – to freely use certain social platforms and participate online. Please see the attached letter for more information on our policy concerns with the proposed legislation. Stephen Kent Manassas, VA Consumer Choice Center
Contains our feedback on the proposed legislation based on our expertise with this issue from around dealing with this issue in other states.
Dear Chair Hayes, Delegate Thomas, and Members of the Committee, We at Stop Child Predators write to you today to express our opposition to House Bill 1624, which would fail to protect children in Virginia, infringe on Virginians’ freedom of speech, and disenfranchise parents from their right to make decisions on matters regarding their own children. Social media can be beneficial for teenagers when it comes to age-appropriate friendships and exploring their hobbies and interests. Parental involvement and monitoring is critical to ensuring teenagers remain safe online and learn healthy online habits before they become adults. It should be parents who decide what tools and resources are appropriate for their children. House Bill 1624’s definition of what is “addictive” is incredibly vague and the legislation fails to offer resources to encourage parents or teenagers to implement time limits or screen time online. In fact, the algorithms House Bill 1624 would prohibit keep our children safer by filtering unwanted content for children – providing parents another resource to better protect their children. Governor Youngkin was absolutely right to issue an executive order to protect kids online because something must be done. He is showing strong leadership for Virginia in this area, but legislators should empower parents as they take his direction. Additionally, this bill is destined to be held up in court on constitutional questions related to free speech, where similar bills in California in New York have faced temporary injunctions as the courts make a final ruling on the bill’s constitutionality. Virginia should not follow California and New York’s lead by passing House Bill 1624 before the California courts issue their final ruling regarding the constitutionality of this legislation. If House Bill 1624 is passed, it will likely waste taxpayer dollars defending an unconstitutional bill that will do nothing to stop child predators or protect children online in the meantime. This is a far cry from what Virginia parents need. As an advocacy group that has focused on stopping child predators for nearly 20 years, we encourage the Virginia legislature to consider legislation that puts parents in the driver’s seat and makes real headway against predators by providing for municipal, state, and federal law enforcement, more prosecutors, more judges, and more support for victims. There are many helpful solutions that would keep kids safe online without violating free speech. House Bill 1624 will only waste time and money while our teenagers are in desperate need of real solutions. Respectfully, Stop Child Predators
Chairman Hayes and members of the committee: My name is Max Gulker, and I am a senior policy analyst at Reason Foundation. Thank you for the opportunity to offer our analysis of House Bill 1624 (HB 1624). Along with the many heavily debated pros and cons of online age restrictions and parental consent in general, HB 1624 opens the door to negative unintended consequences due to the way that it is written. HB 1624 attempts to define which features and services offered by social media platforms are potentially risky for minors. Concerns over the personalized algorithms social media uses to recommend content (“addictive feeds”) stem from some highly publicized recent studies about kids and screen time, as well as features of algorithms some worry have addictive properties. Using this definition, HB 1624 breaks down the activities performed by social media algorithms and provides a list of features for which minors must have verifiable parental consent. Algorithms recommending, displaying, and moderating content provided by others based on information obtained from the user would require minors to have parental consent, though the bill sets forth several exemptions. The framework defining “addictive feeds” in HB 1624–with dozens of terms defined and several exemptions set forth–may do a good job of describing the ways we use social media algorithms today. But a similar effort five or ten years ago would likely have looked very different, and the framework of HB 1624 will likely be obsolete in ways we can’t predict five or ten years from now. This will reduce the effectiveness of HB 1624. Enforcement will grow more complicated, and new features and activities provided by social media will lead to new arguments about what is and isn’t covered in the bill. As compliance and enforcement grow more complicated, the playing field will tilt toward larger and more experienced firms and away from small firms and new entrants. The “addictive feeds” framework, particularly if adopted by more states, could ultimately distort future innovation, once again in unintended and undesirable ways. By concerning itself with the specific nuts and bolts of how social media operates in 2025, innovative platforms may stick to old processes because they make compliance easier, even when new processes or features could be of greater value or even safer for users. Finally, the same factors that make the “addictive feeds” framework problematic–high-profile and rapidly changing technology–raise questions about whether the research on potential harms will stand the test of time. The studies noted above are both recent and controversial. Our understanding of yesterday’s media revolutions (recorded music, television, to name just two) and their possible harms have changed with time. Our understanding of any harms from social media, and the sources of those harms, will no doubt change as well. These potential consequences of adopting the “addictive feeds” framework are but one small part of the complicated set of debates over kids and social media. But they suggest that the “addictive feeds” framework is the wrong approach for an industry defined by rapid and unpredictable technological change. The potential unintended consequences from this method of requiring parental consent, in our view, outweigh the potential benefits.
Please see attached.
Oppose this bill because it is DEI and similar divisive legislation that lowers standards and expectations, and creates separation.
TechNet HB 1624 remarks
Writing in regard to Virginia House Bill 1624.
See attached file.
See attached file.
The Virginia legislature should learn from California's recent mistake of passing an unconstitutional law restricting online speech and avoid repeating it with HB 1624. Instead of wasting taxpayer money on likely unconstitutional legislation, Virginia lawmakers should focus on legal and effective solutions to promote online safety for children, such as educational initiatives that empower parents. These efforts would better serve Virginians and respect their free speech rights.
The Virginia legislature should learn from California's recent mistake of passing an unconstitutional law restricting online speech and avoid repeating it with HB 1624. Instead of wasting taxpayer money on likely unconstitutional legislation, Virginia lawmakers should focus on legal and effective solutions to promote online safety for children, such as educational initiatives that empower parents. These efforts would better serve Virginians and respect their free speech rights.
We have serious constitutional concerns about this bill's restrictions on personalized content for minors on social media platforms. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld strong First Amendment protections for both sharing and receiving online content, most recently in Moody v. NetChoice in 2024, where the Court explicitly recognized that social media feeds are protected expression. Additionally, just last year, California enacted a law similar to HB 1624. But California is currently prohibited from enforcing it. The case challenging California’s law will soon be heard by the Ninth Circuit. At the very least, if the Committee is not convinced of HB 1624’s unconstitutionality, it should wait until the California litigation is resolved before enacting HB 1624.
I hope I understand this bill correctly. I believe it is protecting our kids from being exposed to inappropriate content such as weed, cigarettes, and sexual material? If that’s the case, then why are Democrats legalizing cannabis? Why lower expectations and standards in schools because that is what keeps happening from the far-left Democrat Party. I don’t want to see these inappropriate things myself. Nothing is safe for our children and young adults. I am This begins with the family and following the Rule of Law.
TechNet's written remarks on HB 1624 - addictive feeds - are attached.
Prior to my retirement, I was Staff Director of a major subcommittee of the US House of Representatives, and my immediate boss was Congressman Jon Porter, who represented: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA. And Jon used to tell me, "Ron, I never go into those places because I figured out a long time ago how they pay for them." And, of course he was saying casinos are NOT money losers for the house. Every time lawmakers seem to want new laws that govern behavior they send us deeper into the swamp of moral rot and decay, not to mention teaching our children to use drugs and engage in promiscuous behavior, all of which are destructive to our neighborhoods, cities, states, and most important, our Nation. Encouraging "striking it rich" and "I'll beat the odds" activity causes individuals and families to sacrifice limited incomes on the pipe dream that they will be "more lucky, next time." Do NOT impose this new scourge on us--NO CASINO in Fairfax County. Ron Martinson 703 354-3997