Bill > HB3393

This bill, known as the "Megan Meier Act," introduces several new provisions aimed at protecting minors and individuals from harmful online content and practices. It prohibits the development or deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) that falsely claims to be or act as a mental health professional, defining AI broadly as any system that performs tasks without significant human oversight or learns from data. The bill also establishes stricter regulations for social media platforms, requiring age verification for all Missouri users and preventing minors under sixteen from having independent accounts; minors sixteen and older can only have accounts with verified parental or guardian consent, and parents will have oversight capabilities. Furthermore, it criminalizes the creation or alteration of an individual's image or voice using AI to generate explicit sexual material without consent, and creates civil action for victims of such misuse. The bill also addresses the non-consensual disclosure of digital depictions, particularly intimate ones, defining terms like "intimate digital depiction" and establishing civil and criminal penalties for violations, with specific provisions for minors and a requirement for online platforms to implement removal processes for non-consensual content. Finally, it updates existing laws to include "artificially generated visual depictions" within the definition of child pornography and explicit sexual material, expanding protections against the misuse of AI in creating or distributing such content.