Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) announced Thursday that he introduced a bipartisan legislation to protect children on social media websites.
Cunnigham says the bill would require social media companies to obtain express consent to sell a minor's personal information via a separate disclosure, rather than buried in boilerplate terms and conditions. It would also prevent a social media company from denying a child access to the site if the child or their parent refuses to provide consent.
According to a press release, children cannot lawfully enter into a contract under California law. Despite this, some social media companies allegedly have buried nondescript parental consent language in their general terms and services agreement, which is often pages long.
"Assumed consent simply is not express parental consent," said Cunningham. "Social media companies should not be able to sell a child's data based on an assumed consent from the parents."
The bill will be heard by the committee in the spring.
