Charles City State Rep Thomson Leads Bill on Parental Permission for Teens and Social Media Accounts

The Iowa House has voted to require teenagers to have a parent’s permission to use social media accounts.

If the bill becomes law, social media companies must give a parent access to their minor child’s Instagram, SnapChat or other accounts and the ability to shut down those accounts. Federal law currently prohibits anyone under the age of 13 from having their own social media account. State Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City led House debate of the bill.

Thomson says some teens have been harassed on social media and subjected to what’s called “sexploitation” on social media — without their parent’s knowledge….and with devastating consequences.

The bill passed the House on an 88-to-six vote and goes to the Senate for review.

The House approved another bill targeting the use of artificial intelligence to embed real images into pornographic content. Representative Helena Hayes of New Sharon says they’re commonly called “deep fakes.”

The House unanimously approved a separate bill to specifically crack down on deep fakes that manipulate the images of children.