Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act Has Gone into Effect in Texas

The SCOPE Act, which stands for the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, is a legislative measure that took effect in Texas starting September 1, 2024. The Act aims to enhance protections for minors online by requiring digital service providers to implement strategies that prevent minors from accessing harmful content, ensure data privacy for minors, and provide tools for parental oversight.

Texas will enforce the SCOPE Act through penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

"Our children are experiencing all manner of harms via overexposure to digital platforms and predatory algorithms, manifesting in increased rates of self-harm, suicide, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, human trafficking and other mental health issues," wrote state Rep. Shelby Slawson (R-Granbury), bill co-author, in a statement after HB18 was voted out of committee in April 2023. "Testimony from parents and children in committee gave graphic examples underscoring how desperately we need to better protect kids online. The SCOPE Act will do just that."

Notable Portions of the Act:

• Parental Consent: A digital service provider must register the age of the person creating an account for a digital service and prevent the person from later altering their age. A person is a minor if their registered age is younger than 18 years old, or the minor’s parent or guardian notifies the digital service provider of the minor’s age or successfully disputes the registered age of the minor. 

• The digital service providers must clearly disclose (1) how they use algorithms to provide information and content to minors, (2) how the algorithms promote, rank, or filter information or content, and (3) what personal identifying information the algorithm uses. This information will need to be displayed in their terms of service, privacy policy, or similar document tied to the user agreement.

• A digital service provider must work to prevent advertisers on the platform from targeting minors with ads that promote or offer any product, service, or activity that is unlawful for a minor in Texas.

• A digital service provider that knowingly publishes or distributes content that is harmful or obscene must use a commercially reasonable age verification method to verify the age of the user seeking access to the content to ensure the user is 18 years of age or older. 

• Content Filtering: Although a federal judge blocked the mandate for content moderation, the Act initially intended for digital services to filter out content related to self-harm, suicide, bullying, trafficking, and other forms of exploitation from minors.

• Data Protections: The Act includes provisions for how data of minors is collected, used, and shared, aiming to prevent deceptive trade practices in this realm.

Parts of the SCOPE Act, particularly those related to content moderation, have faced legal challenges. A court ruling allowed the parental consent requirement to stand but struck down the content moderation mandate, suggesting that while companies must get parental approval for minors' accounts, they are not currently obligated to filter content as initially required.

The Act is enforceable by the Consumer Protection Division of the Texas Office of the Attorney General. It includes exemptions for various entities like state agencies, small businesses, certain financial institutions, and educational institutions among others.

Companies like Meta have expressed pushback to parts of the bill as initially filed, arguing they already have safeguards in place. However, they must now navigate the requirement for parental consent, which might affect how they onboard new, younger users.

This Act reflects a broader trend where states are attempting to legislate more control over how children interact with digital services, aiming to balance online freedoms with child safety. However, the ongoing legal battles highlight the complexities of implementing such laws in the digital age, balancing between protection, privacy, and freedom of expression.

You can read the bill teXt here