SB 262: "An Act relating to social media and minors; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 262 01 "An Act relating to social media and minors; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 45.50.471(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 04 (58) violating AS 45.50.650 (social media accounts for minors). 05 * Sec. 2. AS 45.50 is amended by adding new sections to read: 06 Article 5A. Social Media Platforms and Minors. 07 Sec. 45.50.650. Social media accounts for minors. (a) A social media 08 platform shall prohibit an individual who is under 16 years of age and a resident of the 09 state from becoming an account holder on the social media platform. 10 (b) A social media platform shall terminate any account held by an account 11 holder who is under 16 years of age and a resident of the state, including accounts that 12 the social media platform treats or categorizes as belonging to an account holder who 13 is likely under 16 years of age for the purpose of targeted content or advertising. The 14 social media platform shall provide 90 days for the account holder to dispute the 15 termination. If the account holder fails to effectively dispute the termination, the social
01 media platform shall terminate the account upon expiration of the 90-day period. 02 (c) A social media platform shall allow an account holder who is under 16 03 years of age and a resident of the state to request to terminate the account. The social 04 media platform shall terminate the account within five business days after the request. 05 (d) A social media platform shall permanently delete all information held by 06 the social media platform relating to an account terminated under this section, unless 07 the social media platform is required by law to retain the information. 08 (e) A social media platform may not use the personal data of an account 09 holder who is under 18 years of age and a resident of the state in a personalized 10 recommendation system to display content on the platform. This subsection does not 11 prohibit a social media platform from displaying user-generated content that has been 12 selected, followed, or subscribed to by an account holder who is under 18 years of age 13 as long as the display of the content is based on a chronological format. 14 Sec. 45.50.660. Attorney general remedies; regulations. (a) In addition to 15 the remedies available to the attorney general under AS 45.50.471 - 45.50.561, a court 16 may award punitive damages if a social media platform has engaged in a pattern of 17 knowingly or recklessly violating AS 45.50.650. 18 (b) Notwithstanding AS 45.50.531 and 45.50.535, a private person may not 19 bring an action under AS 45.50.471 - 45.50.561 for a violation of AS 45.50.650. 20 (c) The attorney general may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 21 (Administrative Procedure Act) to implement AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690. 22 Sec. 45.50.670. Private cause of action. (a) If a social media platform 23 knowingly or recklessly violates AS 45.50.650, an account holder of the social media 24 platform who is under 18 years of age, a resident of the state, and harmed by the 25 violation may bring an action against the social media platform in superior court and 26 recover damages of up to $10,000. 27 (b) An action under this section must be brought on behalf of the account 28 holder by the account holder's parent or guardian. 29 (c) An action under this section must be brought within one year after the 30 account holder's parent or guardian discovered or reasonably should have discovered 31 the alleged violation.
01 (d) Nothing in this section prevents an account holder who brings an action 02 under this section from pursuing other remedies available to the account holder. 03 Sec. 45.50.680. Applicability. AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690 apply to a social 04 media platform when 05 (1) at least 10 percent of the daily active users of the social media 06 platform who are under 18 years of age spend on average two or more hours a day on 07 the social media platform on the days when using the social media platform during the 08 previous 12 months or, if the social media platform did not exist during the previous 09 12 months, during the previous month; and 10 (2) the social media platform has any of the following addictive 11 features: 12 (A) content that loads continuously or as the user scrolls down 13 the page, without the need to open a separate page; 14 (B) pages with no visible or apparent end or page breaks; 15 (C) push notifications or alerts sent by the social media 16 platform about specific activities or events; 17 (D) personal interactive metrics that display the number of 18 times other users have clicked a button to indicate a reaction to content or have 19 shared or reposted the content; 20 (E) video that begins to play automatically or without the user 21 first clicking on the video or on a play button for that video; 22 (F) live streaming or another function that broadcasts live video 23 content in real time. 24 Sec. 45.50.690. Definitions. In AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690, 25 (1) "account holder" means an individual who 26 (A) opens an account or creates a profile with a social media 27 platform; or 28 (B) is identified by a social media platform by a unique 29 identifier while using or accessing the social media platform; 30 (2) "daily active users" means the number of unique users in the 31 United States who used the social media platform at least 80 percent of the days
01 during the previous 12 months or, if the social media platform did not exist during the 02 previous 12 months, the number of unique users in the United States who used the 03 social media platform at least 80 percent of the days during the previous month; 04 (3) "personal data" 05 (A) means 06 (i) a first and last name; 07 (ii) a home or other physical address, including street 08 name and name of a city or town; 09 (iii) an electronic mail address; 10 (iv) a telephone number; 11 (v) a social security number; 12 (vi) other information relating to an account holder that 13 a social media platform collects online from the account holder and 14 combines with an identifier described in this subparagraph; 15 (B) does not include 16 (i) the type of device used by the account holder; 17 (ii) the languages used by the account holder to 18 communicate; 19 (iii) the city or town in which the account holder is 20 located; 21 (iv) the fact that the account holder is under 18 years of 22 age; or 23 (v) the age of the account holder; 24 (4) "personalized recommendation system" means a fully or partially 25 automated system used to suggest, promote, or rank content, including other account 26 holders or posts, based on information about an account holder; 27 (5) "social media platform" 28 (A) means an online forum, website, or application that allows 29 users to upload content or view the content or activity of other users and 30 employs algorithms that analyze user data or information about users to select 31 content for users;
01 (B) does not include an online service, website, or application 02 in which the exclusive function is electronic mail or direct messaging 03 consisting of text, images, or videos shared only between the sender and the 04 recipient, without displaying or posting publicly or to other users not 05 specifically identified as recipients by the sender. 06 * Sec. 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027.