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SB0262B -1- CSSB 262(L&C)
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CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 262(L&C)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE
Offered: 5/4/26
Referred: Judiciary
Sponsor(s): SENATOR BJORKMAN
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to social media and minors; and providing for an effective date." 1
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 2
* Section 1. AS 45.50.471(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 3
(58) violating AS 45.50.650 (social media accounts for minors). 4
* Sec. 2. AS 45.50 is amended by adding new sections to read: 5
Article 5A. Social Media Platforms and Minors. 6
Sec. 45.50.650. Social media accounts for minors. (a) A social media 7
platform shall prohibit an individual who is under 16 years of age and a resident of the 8
state from becoming an account holder on the social media platform. 9
(b) A social media platform shall terminate any account held by an account 10
holder who is under 16 years of age and a resident of the state, including accounts that 11
the social media platform treats or categorizes as belonging to an account holder who 12
is likely under 16 years of age for the purpose of targeted content or advertising. The 13
social media platform shall provide 90 days for the account holder to dispute the 14
termination. If the account holder fails to effectively dispute the termination, the social 15
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media platform shall terminate the account upon expiration of the 90-day period. 1
(c) A social media platform shall allow an account holder who is under 16 2
years of age and a resident of the state to request to terminate the account. The social 3
media platform shall terminate the account within five business days after the request. 4
(d) A social media platform shall permanently delete all information held by 5
the social media platform relating to an account terminated under this section, unless 6
the social media platform is required by law to retain the information. 7
(e) A social media platform may not use the personal data of an account 8
holder who is under 18 years of age and a resident of the state in a personalized 9
recommendation system to display content on the platform. This subsection does not 10
prohibit a social media platform from displaying user-generated content that has been 11
selected, followed, or subscribed to by an account holder who is under 18 years of age 12
as long as the display of the content is based on a chronological format. 13
Sec. 45.50.660. Attorney general remedies; regulations. (a) In addition to 14
the remedies available to the attorney general under AS 45.50.471 - 45.50.561, a court 15
may award punitive damages if a social media platform has engaged in a pattern of 16
knowingly or recklessly violating AS 45.50.650. 17
(b) Notwithstanding AS 45.50.531 and 45.50.535, a private person may not 18
bring an action under AS 45.50.471 - 45.50.561 for a violation of AS 45.50.650. 19
(c) The attorney general may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 20
(Administrative Procedure Act) to implement AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690. 21
Sec. 45.50.670. Private cause of action. (a) If a social media platform 22
knowingly or recklessly violates AS 45.50.650, an account holder of the social media 23
platform who is under 18 years of age, a resident of the state, and harmed by the 24
violation may bring an action against the social media platform in superior court and 25
recover damages. 26
(b) An action under this section must be brought on behalf of the account 27
holder by the account holder's parent or guardian. 28
(c) An action under this section must be brought within one year after the 29
account holder's parent or guardian discovered or reasonably should have discovered 30
the alleged violation. 31
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(d) Nothing in this section prevents an account holder who brings an action 1
under this section from pursuing other remedies available to the account holder. 2
Sec. 45.50.680. Applicability. AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690 apply to a social 3
media platform when 4
(1) at least 10 percent of the daily active users of the social media 5
platform who are under 18 years of age spend on average two or more hours a day on 6
the social media platform on the days when using the social media platform during the 7
previous 12 months or, if the social media platform did not exist during the previous 8
12 months, during the previous month; and 9
(2) the social media platform has any of the following addictive 10
features: 11
(A) content that loads continuously or as the user scrolls down 12
the page, without the need to open a separate page; 13
(B) pages with no visible or apparent end or page breaks; 14
(C) push notifications or alerts sent by the social media 15
platform about specific activities or events; 16
(D) personal interactive metrics that display the number of 17
times other users have clicked a button to indicate a reaction to content or have 18
shared or reposted the content; 19
(E) video that begins to play automatically or without the user 20
first clicking on the video or on a play button for that video; 21
(F) live streaming or another function that broadcasts live video 22
content in real time. 23
Sec. 45.50.690. Definitions. In AS 45.50.650 - 45.50.690, 24
(1) "account holder" means an individual who 25
(A) opens an account or creates a profile with a social media 26
platform; or 27
(B) is identified by a social media platform by a unique 28
identifier while using or accessing the social media platform; 29
(2) "daily active users" means the number of unique users in the 30
United States who used the social media platform at least 80 percent of the days 31
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during the previous 12 months or, if the social media platform did not exist during the 1
previous 12 months, the number of unique users in the United States who used the 2
social media platform at least 80 percent of the days during the previous month; 3
(3) "personal data" 4
(A) means 5
(i) a first and last name; 6
(ii) a home or other physical address, including street 7
name and name of a city or town; 8
(iii) an electronic mail address; 9
(iv) a telephone number; 10
(v) a social security number; 11
(vi) other information relating to an account holder that 12
a social media platform collects online from the account holder and 13
combines with an identifier described in this subparagraph; 14
(B) does not include 15
(i) the type of device used by the account holder; 16
(ii) the languages used by the account holder to 17
communicate; 18
(iii) the city or town in which the account holder is 19
located; 20
(iv) the fact that the account holder is under 18 years of 21
age; or 22
(v) the age of the account holder; 23
(4) "personalized recommendation system" means a fully or partially 24
automated system used to suggest, promote, or rank content, including other account 25
holders or posts, based on information about an account holder; 26
(5) "social media platform" 27
(A) means an online forum, website, or application that allows 28
users to upload content or view the content or activity of other users and 29
employs algorithms that analyze user data or information about users to select 30
content for users; 31
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(B) does not include an online service, website, or application 1
in which the exclusive function is electronic mail or direct messaging 2
consisting of text, images, or videos shared only between the sender and the 3
recipient, without displaying or posting publicly or to other users not 4
specifically identified as recipients by the sender. 5
* Sec. 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027. 6