On March 18, 2024, House Bill 3914 was engrossed in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and thereafter read for the first time in the Senate on the same date. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on March 14, 2024.

What are the main provisions of the bill?

In particular, the bill prohibits social media companies from allowing an Oklahoma user who is under 16 years of age to be an account holder on social media platforms. If the minor is at least 16 years old but younger than 18 years old, the bill prohibits social media companies from allowing the minor to be an account holder unless the minor has the express consent of a parent or legal guardian.

Additionally, the bill obligates social media companies to verify the age of an account holder. The bill allows the user of third-party vendors to perform reasonable age verification before allowing access to the social media company's social media platform. According to the bill, reasonable age verification methods include providing:

• a digitized identification card, including a digital copy of a driver's license;
• government-issued identification;
• any commercially reasonable age verification method; and
• confirmation from a platform from which social media applications are downloaded that the platform has verified the age and identity of the user.

Furthermore, the bill introduces prohibitions on social media companies' use of minors' personal data, such as:

• processing minors' data if the social media platform has actual knowledge of or willfully disregards that the processing may result in substantial harm or is a privacy risk to minors;
• profiling a minor unless both of the following criteria are met:
  • the social media platform can demonstrate it has appropriate safeguards in place to protect minors, and
  • profiling is necessary to provide the online service or feature requested for the aspects of the online service or feature with which the minor is actively and knowingly engaged, or the social media platform can demonstrate a compelling reason that profiling does not pose substantial harm or is a privacy risk to minors;
• collecting, selling, or sharing any precise geolocation data of minors unless the collection of the precise geolocation data is strictly necessary for the online platform to provide the service, product, or feature requested and then only for the limited time that the collection of the precise geolocation data is necessary to provide the service or feature; and
• using dark patterns to lead or encourage minors to provide personal information beyond what personal information would otherwise be reasonably expected to be provided for that online service or feature, to forego privacy protections, or to take any action that the online platform has actual knowledge of or willfully disregards that may result in substantial harm or is a privacy risk to minors.

According to the bill, a social media company that violates the bill is liable to an individual for a penalty of $2,500 per violation or damages resulting from a minor accessing a social media platform without the consent of their parent or custodian.

You can read the bill here and track its progress here.

Update: April 1, 2024

Bill referred to Senate Business and Commerce Committee

On March 27, 2024, the bill was referred to the Oklahoma State Senate Business and Commerce Committee after being read for the second time in the Senate on the same date.

You can read the bill here and track its progress here.