House
Bill 18, the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act,
amends the Business & Commerce Code to establish the duty of certain digital
service providers (DSPs) to register a user's age before entering into an
agreement with the user to create an account with a digital service.
Additionally, the bill establishes duties for DSPs that enter into an access agreement
with a known minor with regard to the collection and use of personal
identifying information, the prevention of harm to known minors, advertising
and marketing, the creation of parental tools, the use of algorithms, the
verification of a minor's parent or guardian, and parental access to the
minor's personal identifying information. The bill provides for the enforcement
of its provisions by the attorney general's office and for a private cause of
action brought by a parent or guardian.
Effective June 13,
2023, House Bill 18 amends the Education Code to establish requirements for the
Texas Education Agency in adopting standards for permissible electronic devices
and software applications used by a public school district or open-enrollment
charter school and requirements for districts and charter schools before
transferring data processing equipment or an electronic device to a student.
Finally, the bill requires a joint committee of the legislature to study the
effects of media on minors.
Except otherwise
provided, House Bill 18 takes effect September 1, 2024.