ATLANTA — A new push from Georgia lawmakers is designed to make sure parents know when their kids have access to social media by requiring companies to get parental consent for anyone younger than 16.
Amanda Niederhuber says she wants the best for her sons, but in a world where dangers lurk online, some help keeping them safe would be nice.
“We have to have some moral guardrail put in place and do what we can,” she said.
Senate Bill 351, which is currently making its way through the state legislature, would require social media companies to get parental consent for users under the age of 16.
Experts are pointing out that children could just lie.
“If you cannot enforce it, it’s futile,” Titania Jordan, who runs parental control company Bark Technologies, said.
The bill tries to protect against that by requiring social media companies to prove parental consent by getting a signed form, a call or proof of ID. If they don’t, the companies would be hit with a $2,500 fine per violation.