Alaska’s House of Representatives unanimously passed HB47, a bill that imposes sweeping limits on when and how minors can use social media apps, as well as bans the creation or distribution of harmful deepfakes of children.
The original form of the bill focused on prohibiting the capture and distribution of sexually explicit images of children using AI, but Alaska lawmakers decided to add amendments that would impose restrictions on social media. Proposed limits include a statewide curfew on social media use between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am, banning “addictive design features” and requiring social media platforms to verify a user’s age and obtain parental consent if they are a minor.
While the House bill received 39 votes in favor and zero against, the amendments gave some hints on possible upcoming amendments. Before voting on the bill, some House representatives expressed concern about adding such sweeping rules on social media without consulting the companies behind it.
The bill still has to make its way through the Alaska State Senate, which has already submitted a companion bill, and the governor. Alaska is following in the footsteps of several other states, and the House has also modeled its social media amendments in the HB47 bill after Utah. While Utah was the first state to propose social media restrictions for children, it later got a preliminary injunction.
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