Latest news with #WalkerMontgomeryProtectingChildrenOnlineAct
Economic Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Mississippi social media law: Age verification and parental consent now mandatory on Facebook, Instagram, X
Mississippi's new social media law now requires sites like Facebook, Instagram, and X to verify children's ages and get parental consent. NetChoice, a group of big tech companies, tried to stop it, saying it may limit online free speech. The Supreme Court denied their request, so the law is now active to protect children from harmful content online. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What is NetChoice—the challengers to the law What does the law say Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs A Mississippi law, making it mandatory for social media sites like Facebook, X, and Instagram to age verify children and take parental consent before allowing use, has come into effect for all its possible purposes after the Supreme Court denied relief to the trade group seeking to block its enforcement, reports group of big tech companies—Dreamwidth, Meta, Nextdoor, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap Inc. (which owns Snapchat), X and YouTube—were all represented by a trade group called NetChoice, which had gotten a federal judge to block the law's implementation previously, as per the report by US Court of Appeal then lifted the injunction. Which led NetChoice to seek emergency relief for its clients, stating that 'both minors and adults can access and engage in fully protected expression online, free from governmental interference.'The law, called the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act asked sites to formulate and implement methods to subvert exposure of harmful content to minors—citing an incident where a 16—year-old committed suicide after falling prey to a bogus sextortion attempt on State of Mississippi, represented by Attorney General Lynn Fitch, however, was of the firm view that the inunction on the law was uncalled for and hampered state's ability to protect children from predators, MSNBC reported. She also cited a Texan ruling where verification of sexual content before exposing it to children became mandatory, as reported by the Shadow bench of the High Court—which had its doubts over the constitutional validity of the law—had upheld the law, it didn't give specific comments on the First Amendment violation claims raised by Brett Kavanaugh of the 5th circuit said that the law was possibly unconstitutional but as of now, NetChoice has failed to 'sufficiently demonstrate that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time', as reported by law requires sites like Facebook, Instagram, and X to check children's ages and get parental consent before allowing them to use the is a group representing big tech companies that tried to block the law, saying it limits free online expression for minors and adults.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Mississippi social media law: Age verification and parental consent now mandatory on Facebook, Instagram, X
A Mississippi law, making it mandatory for social media sites like Facebook, X, and Instagram to age verify children and take parental consent before allowing use, has come into effect for all its possible purposes after the Supreme Court denied relief to the trade group seeking to block its enforcement, reports said. What is NetChoice—the challengers to the law The group of big tech companies—Dreamwidth, Meta, Nextdoor, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap Inc. (which owns Snapchat), X and YouTube—were all represented by a trade group called NetChoice, which had gotten a federal judge to block the law's implementation previously, as per the report by MSNBC. The US Court of Appeal then lifted the injunction. Which led NetChoice to seek emergency relief for its clients, stating that 'both minors and adults can access and engage in fully protected expression online, free from governmental interference.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Gold Is Surging in 2025 — Smart Traders Are Already In IC Markets Learn More Undo ALSO READ: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell indicted for fraud and bodyguard scandal What does the law say The law, called the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act asked sites to formulate and implement methods to subvert exposure of harmful content to minors—citing an incident where a 16—year-old committed suicide after falling prey to a bogus sextortion attempt on Instagram. Live Events The State of Mississippi, represented by Attorney General Lynn Fitch, however, was of the firm view that the inunction on the law was uncalled for and hampered state's ability to protect children from predators, MSNBC reported. She also cited a Texan ruling where verification of sexual content before exposing it to children became mandatory, as reported by MSNBC. Though the Shadow bench of the High Court—which had its doubts over the constitutional validity of the law—had upheld the law, it didn't give specific comments on the First Amendment violation claims raised by NetChoice. Justice Brett Kavanaugh of the 5th circuit said that the law was possibly unconstitutional but as of now, NetChoice has failed to 'sufficiently demonstrate that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time', as reported by MSNBC. FAQs Q1. What is the Mississippi social media law about? The law requires sites like Facebook, Instagram, and X to check children's ages and get parental consent before allowing them to use the platforms. Q2. Who is NetChoice and why did they challenge the law? NetChoice is a group representing big tech companies that tried to block the law, saying it limits free online expression for minors and adults.
USA Today
11-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Attorney Gen. Lynn Fitch: Taking on big tech for our kids
Lynn Fitch Special to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory, noting that adolescents who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression. At the time, the average daily use of social media for adolescents was 4.8 hours. In record numbers, young people are feeling lonely, disconnected, depressed and anxious. They experience low self-esteem, unhealthy body image and self-harm. They are repeatedly subjected to sometimes violent adult content, 'thinspiration,' cyberbullying, sex trafficking and child predators. And their developing minds cannot disconnect from it. Children are suffering and parents are looking for answers. They are looking for help because they and their children are up against the best engineers who have created the most sophisticated algorithms for the richest technology companies. It is simply not a fair fight. Parents and children are not without their champions, however. A broad bipartisan coalition passed the Kids Online Safety Act through the U.S. Senate by a vote of 91-3, for example. Legislators who often appear to agree about nothing came together to help parents protect their children. Regrettably, the law never made it through the House. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. States like Mississippi have taken up the cause of our children, as well. In 2024, the Mississippi Legislature passed the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act. The law is named for a 16-year-old boy who took his own life when he got caught up in a sextortion scam through social media. The law has a few key provisions that boil down to requiring social media platforms to do what any responsible company already would do: make 'commercially reasonable' efforts to protect minors. The state is not asking them to make perfect or cost-prohibitive efforts. On behalf of children and their parents, the State is only asking them to make some effort that reflects basic reasonable care in light of their resources. Even that was too much to ask, and they sued to stop the law before it could even take effect. My office went before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals this week to defend the law. Mississippi is also one of 42 states that have taken social media companies, like TikTok and Meta, to court. The evidence we have acquired through our investigation is staggering. The companies knew that they were causing harm to their minor consumers. Not only did they not address the harms, but they intentionally fed them increasingly addictive products. Our children were profit-making machines, and they were going to suck every dollar out of them, even if it left those children empty, hurting and damaged. All this comes at a time when Big Tech is moving more and more devices and platforms to utilize end-to-end encryption. Simply put, end-to-end encryption means that we will no longer be able to detect illegal behavior like child pornography and sex trafficking online and law enforcement will no longer have access to evidence needed to prevent crimes like child exploitation. In the second quarter of 2024, Meta alone sent 2.8 million CyberTips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). More than 80,000 of these tips involved inappropriate interactions between adults and children – asking for illicit photos or videos or attempting to meet the child for a sexual encounter. More than 2.7 million were the sharing and re-sharing of child sexual abuse material. With end-to-end encryption in place, the harm to children will still be happening, but now no one – not the social media companies, not law enforcement – will have the means to detect and stop it. So, with one hand, social media companies are fighting any efforts by legislators to seek reasonable efforts to protect children from mental and physical harm online. And with the other hand, social media companies are locking law enforcement out of vital evidence to put away predators even after they have harmed a child. Some of the most powerful names in Big Tech were present in the Capitol Rotunda for President Donald J. Trump's inauguration last month. And just weeks earlier, in the waning days of the 118th Congress, top executives at X, including Elon Musk, had stepped up to try to bridge the gap for privacy advocates in an effort to save the Kids Online Safety Act. President Trump has their ear and parents need for him to use his influence to help save their children. — Lynn Fitch is Mississippi's attorney general.
