Interactive computer service providers; require parental consent and access to minor user's account history.

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To: Judiciary A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Hood

HOUSE BILL NO. 1576

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS 1
FROM ENTERING INTO CONTRACTS WITH MINORS WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT; 2
TO CREATE NEW SECTION 11-79-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 3
PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 11-79-3, MISSISSIPPI 4
CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS TO 5
GIVE PARENTS ACCESS TO THEIR CHILD'S USER HISTORY; TO PROVIDE 6
REASONABLE METHODS OF AGE VERIFICATION; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 7
11-79-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE ATTORNEY 8
GENERAL TO PROSECUTE VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AUTHORIZE PARENTS 9
TO FILE CIVIL COMPLAINTS AGAINST AN INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE 10
PROVIDERS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE THE AMOUNT OF 11
CIVIL PENALTIES IMPOSED FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; TO BRING 12
FORWARD SECTIONS 45-38-3, 45-38-5, 45-38-7, 45-38-9, 45-38-11, 13
45-38-13 AND 11-77-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF 14
POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 15
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 16
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 17
11-79-1, Mississippi Code of 1972: 18
11-79-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the 19
following terms have the meanings as defined in this section, 20
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: 21
(a) "Adult" means any person who is eighteen (18) years 22
of age or older. 23
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(b) "Broadband provider" means that term as defined in 24
47 USC Section 1752(a)(2). 25
(c) "Cloud service provider" means that term as defined 26
in 44 USC Section 3607(b)(5). 27
(d) "Interactive computer service" means that term as 28
defined in 47 USC Section 230. 29
(e) "Minor" means any person who is under the age of 30
eighteen (18) years. 31
(f) "Parent" means the parent or legal guardian of a 32
minor as provided by state law. 33
(g) "News-gathering organization" means any of the 34
following: 35
(i) An employee of a newspaper, news publication 36
or news source, printed or on an online or mobile platform, of 37
current news and public interest, while operating as an employee 38
as provided in this subparagraph (i), who can provide 39
documentation of such employment with the newspaper, news 40
publication or news source; or 41
(ii) An employee of a radio broadcast station, 42
television broadcast station, cable television operator or wire 43
service while operating as an employee as provided in this 44
subparagraph (ii), who can provide documentation of such 45
employment. 46
(h) "Personal identifying information" means any 47
information, including sensitive information, that is linked or 48
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reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual. 49
The term includes pseudonymous information when the information is 50
used by a controller or processor in conjunction with additional 51
information that reasonably links the information to an identified 52
or identifiable individual. The term does not include 53
deidentified information. 54
(i) "Transactional data" means a sequence of 55
information that documents an exchange, agreement or transfer 56
between an individual; commercial entity, including a corporation, 57
limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership or 58
sole proprietorship; or any other legally recognized entity or 59
third party used for the purpose of satisfying a request or event. 60
Transactional data includes, but is not limited to, records from 61
mortgage, education and employment entities. 62
SECTION 2. The following shall be codified as Section 63
11-79-3, Mississippi Code of 1972: 64
11-79-3. Prohibitions. (1) Interactive computer service 65
providers shall not, without the prior express consent of the 66
minor's parent, attempt to enter into any contractual agreement 67
with a minor. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, 68
any agreement with, acknowledgement of or consent to the 69
interactive computer service's terms of service, terms of use, 70
terms and conditions or similar agreement, however described. Any 71
such agreement entered into with a minor without the prior express 72
consent of the minor's parent is, from its inception and 73
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thereafter, void. Any such agreement entered into with a minor 74
with the consent of the minor's parent may not conflict with the 75
terms of this act. Any term or condition of an agreement entered 76
into with a minor that conflicts with any provision or purpose of 77
this act is void as against the public policy of this state and 78
stricken from the agreement from its inception and thereafter. 79
(2) Upon obtaining the necessary consent from the minor's 80
parent, the interactive computer service provider shall provide 81
the parent with instructions to access any information stored by 82
the service recording the minor's activity on the service or 83
embedded messaging service. Such access must remain available to 84
the parent for the duration of the minor's use of the interactive 85
computer service and must include, but shall not be limited to: 86
(a) The date of each instance on which the minor uses 87
the interactive computer service; 88
(b) The duration of each instance of the minor's use of 89
the interactive computer service, or alternatively, the total 90
duration of the minor's use of the interactive computer service 91
over a commercially reasonable period selected by the interactive 92
computer service, such as daily or weekly; 93
(c) The date and content of any post, including text, 94
images, videos, files, links, shares or saves, made by the minor 95
on the minor's profile or feed or on the profile or feed of 96
another user; 97
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(d) The date and content of any post, including text, 98
images, videos, files, links, shares or saves, made by another 99
user on the minor's feed or profile; 100
(e) The date and content of any comment or reaction 101
posted by the minor on the minor's own profile or feed or on the 102
profile or feed of another user; 103
(f) The date and content of any comment or reaction 104
posted by another user on the minor's profile or feed; 105
(g) If the interactive computer service is a game or 106
gaming platform, the identification of any games played, the 107
duration of the minor's use of any games played, and the username 108
or equivalent identifying information of other game participants 109
who have interacted with the minor; 110
(h) The date, location and content of any other 111
interactive computer service accessed by the minor from the 112
initial interactive computer service; 113
(i) The username of every other user with whom the 114
minor has established, or has been requested to establish, an 115
ongoing connection, including as a friend, follower or similar 116
relationship, and information identifying: 117
(i) Whether the other user is an entity or a 118
natural person; 119
(ii) If the other user is a natural person, 120
whether the interactive computer service has verified that the 121
other user is an adult; 122
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(iii) The username or equivalent identifying 123
information of the other user; 124
(iv) The date on which the connection was 125
requested; and 126
(v) Whether the connection request was accepted, 127
refused or ignored; 128
(j) The date and content, including text, images, 129
videos, files, links, shares or saves, of any messages or chats 130
involving the minor and other users identified by the usernames or 131
equivalent identifying information of the other users; and 132
(k) Any other information stored by the interactive 133
computer service recording the minor's activity on the service or 134
embedded messaging service. 135
(3) An interactive computer service provider shall use 136
reasonable age verification methods to verify that the person 137
attempting to use the service is an adult. Age verification may 138
be performed by: 139
(a) Providing a digitized identification card; or 140
(b) Requiring the person attempting to access the 141
material to comply with a commercial age verification system that 142
verifies in one or more of the following ways: 143
(i) Government issued identification; or 144
(ii) Any commercially reasonable method that 145
relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age 146
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of the person attempting to access the information is at least 147
eighteen (18) years of age or older. 148
If the age verification reveals that the person attempting to 149
use the service is not an adult, the interactive computer service 150
shall not allow the person to use the service until parental 151
consent is obtained as provided in subsection (1) of this section 152
and access is provided to the parent as provided in subsection (2) 153
of this subsection. 154
(4) Any interactive computer service or third party that 155
performs the required age verification shall not retain any 156
identifying information received during the age verification 157
process after access to the interactive computer service has been 158
granted or denied. 159
(5) (a) The provisions of this section shall not apply to 160
any bona fide news or public interest broadcast or report and 161
shall not be construed to affect the rights of any news-gathering 162
organization. 163
(b) A broadband provider, affiliate or subsidiary of a 164
broadband provider, search engine or cloud service provider shall 165
not be held to have violated the provisions of this section if 166
enforcing this section against the provider, affiliate or 167
subsidiary would be inconsistent with 47 USC Section 230. 168
(6) An interactive computer service provider may only obtain 169
the express consent of a parent in compliance with this section by 170
one or more of the following methods: 171
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(a) Providing a form for the minor's parent to sign and 172
return to the interactive computer service provider by common 173
carrier, facsimile or electronic scan; 174
(b) Providing a toll-free telephone number for the 175
minor's parent to call to consent; 176
(c) Coordinating a call with a minor's parent over 177
video conferencing technology; 178
(d) Collecting information related to the 179
government-issued identification of the minor's parent and 180
deleting that information after confirming the identity of the 181
minor's parent; 182
(e) Allowing the minor's parent to provide consent by 183
responding to an email and taking additional steps to verify the 184
identity of the minor's parent; or 185
(f) Any other commercially reasonable method of 186
obtaining consent in light of available technology. 187
(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify an 188
interactive computer service provider's obligations under any 189
other laws of this state, including, but not limited to, the 190
Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Act (Section 45-38-1, et 191
seq.) and Section 11-77-5. 192
SECTION 3. The following shall be codified as Section 193
11-79-5, Mississippi Code of 1972: 194
11-79-5. Remedies. (1) If an interactive computer service 195
provider, having been given no less than thirty-days' prior notice 196
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by the Attorney General that it is in violation of Section 197
11-79-3, continues to knowingly violate Section 11-79-3, and the 198
Attorney General believes that bringing an action against the 199
interactive computer service provider is in the public interest, 200
the Attorney General may bring an action in a Hinds County circuit 201
court or a circuit court in any county in which the minor accessed 202
the interactive computer service to enjoin the violation, recover 203
a civil penalty, and obtain other relief the court considers 204
appropriate. A parent may also file a civil complaint against an 205
interactive computer service provider for a violation of Section 206
11-79-3(2) and (3) and may be awarded damages and any other relief 207
the court deems appropriate. 208
(2) A civil penalty imposed under this section for a 209
violation of Section 11-79-3 may be in an amount equal to not more 210
than the total, if applicable, of: 211
(a) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per day for each 212
day that the interactive computer service provider operates an 213
interactive computer service in violation of the age verification 214
or parental consent requirements of Section 11-79-3; 215
(b) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per instance for 216
each instance that the interactive computer service provider 217
retains identifying information in violation of Section 218
11-79-3(4); and 219
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(c) Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) 220
for failure to provide a parent the access to the minor's activity 221
required by Section 11-79-3(2). 222
(3) The amount of a civil penalty imposed and/or damages 223
awarded under this section shall be based on the following 224
factors: 225
(a) The seriousness of the violation, including the 226
nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation; 227
(b) The history of previous violations; 228
(c) The amount necessary to deter a future violation; 229
(d) The economic effect of a penalty on the entity on 230
whom the penalty will be imposed; 231
(e) The entity's knowledge that the act constituted a 232
violation of Section 11-79-3; and 233
(f) Any other matter that justice may require. 234
(4) Damages awarded to a parent who succeeds in a claim 235
against an interactive computer service provider may be in 236
whatever amount the court deems appropriate for the harm caused. 237
(5) The Attorney General or a parent who succeeds in a claim 238
against an interactive computer service provider may recover 239
reasonable and necessary attorney's fees, costs and reasonable 240
expenses of litigation incurred in an action under this section, 241
including, but not limited to, expert witness fees and court 242
reporter's fees. 243
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SECTION 4. Section 45-38-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 244
brought forward as follows: 245
45-38-3. For purposes of this chapter, the following words 246
shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly 247
requires otherwise: 248
(a) "Digital service" means a website, an application, 249
a program, or software that collects or processes personal 250
identifying information with Internet connectivity. 251
(b) "Digital service provider" means a person who: 252
(i) Owns or operates a digital service; 253
(ii) Determines the purpose of collecting and 254
processing the personal identifying information of users of the 255
digital service; and 256
(iii) Determines the means used to collect and 257
process the personal identifying information of users of the 258
digital service. 259
(c) "Harmful material" means material that is harmful 260
to minors as defined by Section 11-77-3(d). 261
(d) "Known minor" means a child who is younger than 262
eighteen (18) years of age who has not had the disabilities of 263
minority removed for general purposes, and who the digital service 264
provider knows to be a minor. 265
(e) "Personal identifying information" means any 266
information, including sensitive information, that is linked or 267
reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual. 268
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The term includes pseudonymous information when the information is 269
used by a controller or processor in conjunction with additional 270
information that reasonably links the information to an identified 271
or identifiable individual. The term does not include 272
deidentified information or publicly available information. 273
SECTION 5. Section 45-38-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 274
brought forward as follows: 275
45-38-5. (1) This chapter applies only to a digital service 276
provider who provides a digital service that: 277
(a) Connects users in a manner that allows users to 278
socially interact with other users on the digital service; 279
(b) Allows a user to create a public, semi-public or 280
private profile for purposes of signing into and using the digital 281
service; and 282
(c) Allows a user to create or post content that can be 283
viewed by other users of the digital service, including sharing 284
content on: 285
(i) A message board; 286
(ii) A chat room; or 287
(iii) A landing page, video channel or main feed 288
that presents to a user content created and posted by other users. 289
(2) This chapter does not apply to: 290
(a) A digital service provider who processes or 291
maintains user data in connection with the employment, promotion, 292
reassignment or retention of the user as an employee or 293
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independent contractor, to the extent that the user's data is 294
processed or maintained for that purpose; 295
(b) A digital service provider's provision of a digital 296
service that facilitates e-mail or direct messaging services, if 297
the digital service facilitates only those services; 298
(c) A digital service provider's provision of a digital 299
service that: 300
(i) Primarily functions to provide a user with 301
access to news, sports, commerce, online video games or content 302
primarily generated or selected by the digital service provider; 303
and 304
(ii) Allows chat, comment or other interactive 305
functionality that is incidental to the digital service; or 306
(d) A digital service provider's provision of a digital 307
service that primarily functions to provide a user with access to 308
career development opportunities, including: 309
(i) Professional networking; 310
(ii) Job skills; 311
(iii) Learning certifications; 312
(iv) Job posting; and 313
(v) Application services. 314
(3) The Internet service provider, Internet service 315
provider's affiliate or subsidiary, search engine or cloud service 316
provider is not considered to be a digital service provider or to 317
offer a digital service if the Internet service provider or 318
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provider's affiliate or subsidiary, search engine or cloud service 319
provider solely provides access or connection, including through 320
transmission, download, intermediate storage, access software or 321
other service, to an Internet website or to other information or 322
content: 323
(a) On the Internet; or 324
(b) On a facility, system or network not under the 325
control of the Internet service provider, provider's affiliate or 326
subsidiary, search engine or cloud service provider. 327
SECTION 6. Section 45-38-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 328
brought forward as follows: 329
45-38-7. (1) A digital service provider may not enter into 330
an agreement with a person to create an account with a digital 331
service unless the person has registered the person's age with the 332
digital service provider. A digital service provider shall make 333
commercially reasonable efforts to verify the age of the person 334
creating an account with a level of certainty appropriate to the 335
risks that arise from the information management practices of the 336
digital service provider. 337
(2) A digital service provider shall not permit an account 338
holder who is a known minor to be an account holder unless the 339
known minor has the express consent from a parent or guardian. 340
Acceptable methods of obtaining express consent of a parent or 341
guardian include any of the following: 342
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(a) Providing a form for the minor's parent or guardian 343
to sign and return to the digital service provider by common 344
carrier, facsimile, or electronic scan; 345
(b) Providing a toll-free telephone number for the 346
known minor's parent or guardian to call to consent; 347
(c) Coordinating a call with a known minor's parent or 348
guardian over video conferencing technology; 349
(d) Collecting information related to the 350
government-issued identification of the known minor's parent or 351
guardian and deleting that information after confirming the 352
identity of the known minor's parent or guardian; 353
(e) Allowing the known minor's parent or guardian to 354
provide consent by responding to an email and taking additional 355
steps to verify the identity of the known minor's parent or 356
guardian; or 357
(f) Any other commercially reasonable method of 358
obtaining consent in light of available technology. 359
SECTION 7. Section 45-38-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 360
brought forward as follows: 361
45-38-9. (1) A digital service provider that enters into an 362
agreement with a known minor for access to a digital service 363
shall: 364
(a) Limit collection of the known minor's personal 365
identifying information to information reasonably necessary to 366
provide the digital service; and 367
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(b) Limit use of the known minor's personal identifying 368
information to the purpose for which the information was 369
collected. 370
(2) A digital service provider that enters into an agreement 371
with a known minor for access to a digital service may not: 372
(a) Use the digital service to collect the known 373
minor's precise geolocation data; 374
(b) Use the digital service to display targeted 375
advertising involving harmful material to the known minor; or 376
(c) Share, disclose or sell the known minor's personal 377
identifying information unless required to: 378
(i) Comply with a civil, criminal or regulatory 379
inquiry, investigation, subpoena or summons by a governmental 380
entity; 381
(ii) Comply with a law enforcement investigation; 382
(iii) Detect, block or prevent the distribution of 383
unlawful, obscene or other harmful material to a known minor; 384
(iv) Block or filter spam; 385
(v) Prevent criminal activity; or 386
(vi) Protect the security of a digital service. 387
SECTION 8. Section 45-38-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 388
brought forward as follows: 389
45-38-11. (1) In relation to a known minor's use of a 390
digital service, a digital service provider shall make 391
commercially reasonable efforts to develop and implement a 392
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strategy to prevent or mitigate the known minor's exposure to 393
harmful material and other content that promotes or facilitates 394
the following harms to minors: 395
(a) Consistent with evidence-informed medical 396
information, the following: self-harm, eating disorders, 397
substance use disorders, and suicidal behaviors; 398
(b) Patterns of use that indicate or encourage 399
substance abuse or use of illegal drugs; 400
(c) Stalking, physical violence, online bullying, or 401
harassment; 402
(d) Grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or other 403
sexual exploitation or abuse; 404
(e) Incitement of violence; or 405
(f) Any other illegal activity. 406
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed to require 407
a digital service provider to prevent or preclude: 408
(a) Any minor from deliberately and independently 409
searching for, or specifically requesting, content; or 410
(b) The digital service provider or individuals on the 411
digital service from providing resources for the prevention or 412
mitigation of the harms described in subsection (1), including 413
evidence-informed information and clinical resources. 414
SECTION 9. Section 45-38-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 415
brought forward as follows: 416
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45-38-13. (1) Except as provided by subsection (2) of this 417
section, this chapter may not be construed as providing a basis 418
for, or being subject to, a private right of action for a 419
violation of this chapter. 420
(2) If a digital service provider violates this chapter, the 421
parent or guardian of a known minor affected by that violation may 422
bring a cause of action seeking: 423
(a) A declaratory judgment under Rule 57 of Mississippi 424
Rules of Civil Procedure; or 425
(b) An injunction against the digital service provider. 426
(3) A court may not certify an action brought under this 427
section as a class action. 428
SECTION 10. Section 11-77-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 429
brought forward as follows: 430
11-77-5. (1) Any commercial entity that knowingly and 431
intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors 432
on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion 433
of such material shall be held liable if the entity fails to 434
perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of 435
individuals attempting to access the material. 436
(2) Any commercial entity or third party that performs the 437
required age verification shall not retain any identifying 438
information of the individual after access has been granted to the 439
material. 440
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ST: Interactive computer service providers;
require parental consent and access to minor
user's account history.
(3) (a) Any commercial entity that is found to have 441
violated this section shall be liable to an individual for damages 442
resulting from a minor's accessing the material, including court 443
costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court. 444
(b) A commercial entity that is found to have knowingly 445
retained identifying information of the individual after access 446
has been granted to the individual shall be liable to the 447
individual for damages resulting from retaining the identifying 448
information, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as 449
ordered by the court. 450
SECTION 11. This act shall take effect and be in force from 451
and after July 1, 2027. 452