Bill > H7953

This bill, titled the Rhode Island Social Media Regulation Act, aims to prohibit Rhode Island residents who are minors, defined as individuals under eighteen years old, from holding accounts on social media platforms, effective January 1, 2027. Social media companies, defined as entities providing a platform with at least five million account holders worldwide and functioning as an interactive computer service (meaning they enable multiple users to access a computer server and the internet, including websites and applications), will be required to verify the age of all Rhode Island account holders, both new and existing, at the time of account creation or within fourteen days of an attempt to access an unverified account. Failure to verify age will result in denial of account access until verification is complete. The Department of Business Regulation will establish rules for age verification, including acceptable forms of identification and data handling procedures, and will investigate consumer complaints and enforce the law, with the authority to impose administrative fines of up to $2,500 per violation, and the Attorney General can bring legal action seeking injunctions, disgorgement of funds, and damages. Individuals can also bring private lawsuits for violations, seeking attorney fees, court costs, and either $2,500 per incident or actual damages. Any attempt to waive these protections is void and unenforceable.

Business and Industry

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