Tennessee Senate approves social media parental consent for minors

The Tennessee Senate passed a slightly amended version of a bill that will require social media companies to receive parental consent before allowing minors to create accounts.

The Senate passed the amended House Bill 1891 by a 30-0 vote.

The bill was amended to eliminate some categories of websites from the restrictions, including peer-to-peer payment platforms, cloud storage or technical support apps.

Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, explained the amendment came after hearing from companies that might be included and to make it “very clear that it is defined as social media companies and not other entities.”

The bill will head back to the House for discussion of the Senate amendment before it can head to Gov. Bill Lee for approval.

The bill would go into effect Jan. 1.

Along with age verification and parental consent, it requires social media companies to allow parents access to monitor the account with privacy settings, daily time restrictions and creating breaks where the minor cannot use the social media

It also allows the Tennessee attorney general to bring action against the company for a violation and allows the attorney general to recover the costs of bringing the action.