BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3862

By: Hunter

Trade, Workforce & Economic Development

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that recent studies and reports from child advocacy organizations have highlighted the negative effects of social media on minors, including exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and addictive behaviors, as well as the risk that children's lack of maturity to fully understand the consequences of their online interactions can lead to privacy breaches, exploitation, or mental health issues. The bill author has also informed the committee of constituent concerns regarding the accessibility of social media platforms to children and the inability of parents and guardians to adequately monitor and control their children's online activities. Further, the bill author has informed the committee that local leaders and educators in the author's district have expressed a need for stricter age limitations and better safeguards for minors accessing social media. C.S.H.B. 3862 seeks to address these issues by prohibiting children under the age of 18 from using social media platforms and requiring social media companies to verify the age of users before allowing them to create accounts.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3862 amends the Business & Commerce Code to prohibit a child from using a social media platform. The bill requires any social media platform that operates in Texas to do the following:

· prohibit a child from entering into a contract with the social media platform to become an account holder; and

· verify that a person seeking to become an account holder is 18 years of age or older before accepting the person as an account holder using a system that relies on government-issued identification.

C.S.H.B. 3862 restricts the use of personal information obtained for age verification purposes to those purposes and prohibits the information from being retained, used, transmitted, or otherwise conveyed, regardless of whether consideration is given for the information. The bill requires the social media company to delete personal information immediately on completion of the age verification process. The bill establishes that a social media company violates the bill's user age limitation provisions if it knowingly does the following:

· fails to verify a person's age before accepting the person as an account holder;

· allows a child to use its platform; or

· misuses personal information in violation of those provisions.

The bill establishes that such a violation is considered a deceptive trade practice under the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

C.S.H.B. 3862 requires a manufacturer of electronic devices, to the extent possible, to enable on each electronic device in Texas or device associated with a user account in Texas a process that allows the owner or user to activate an electronic device marker. The bill requires the marker, when enabled, to notify a website or application accessed by the device that the device is being used by a minor. The bill requires the manufacturer to automatically enable a filter on an electronic device that is activated in Texas and requires the filter, when enabled, to do the following:

· prevent a minor user from publicly sharing the minor's location;

· prevent a minor user from accessing, downloading, or displaying explicit material through use of the following:

o a mobile data network;

o an Internet network, including Wi-Fi; or

o a software application owned and controlled by the manufacturer of the electronic device;

· notify the user of the electronic device when the filter prevents the device from accessing or displaying explicit material;

· allow the user of the electronic device or a minor user's parent or guardian to circumvent the filter by entering a password or access code; and

· reasonably prevent a user of the electronic device from circumventing, modifying, removing, or uninstalling the filter without entering a password or access code.

These bill provisions relating to electronic device markers and filters do not apply to a telecommunications provider who activates an electronic device on behalf of a user or a retailer who sells an electronic device to a user.

C.S.H.B. 3862 amends the Education Code to require a public school district or open-enrollment charter school, before transferring data processing equipment or an electronic device to a student to be used for an educational purpose, to install an Internet filter that blocks and prohibits social media platforms. The bill requires a district or charter school to adopt rules and procedures to block and prohibit access to the following content through the school's Internet network:

· social media websites or applications;

· pornographic or obscene materials; and

· content considered harmful to minors by the district or charter school.

The bill requires the board of trustees of a district or the governing body of a charter school to adopt a policy prohibiting a student in the district or charter school from using a smart device during the school day.

C.S.H.B. 3862 defines the following terms for purposes of its provisions:

· "account holder" as a Texas resident who opens an account or creates a profile or is identified by a social media platform by a unique identifier while using or accessing a social media platform;

· "child" as an individual who is younger than 18 years of age;

· "electronic device" as a device with a screen that is capable of connecting to a cellular network or the Internet;

· "explicit material" as visual material depicting the intimate parts of a person, sexual conduct, or simulated sexual conduct, as those terms are defined by reference to Penal Code provisions regarding the unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material;

· "filter" as software installed on an electronic device that is capable of preventing the device from accessing or displaying explicit material;

· "marker" as software installed on an electronic device that is capable of alerting websites and applications of the owner's or user's age;

· "minor" as a person younger than 18 years of age; and

· "smart device" as a cell phone or wearable device that is capable of connecting to a cellular network or the Internet or is capable of serving as a camera.

C.S.H.B. 3862 requires each manufacturer of electronic devices, not later than January 1, 2026, to the extent possible, to implement a software update to automatically enable an electronic device marker and an electronic device filter on an electronic device in Texas or a device associated with a user account for a user in Texas. The bill's provisions relating to the social media user age limitation apply only to access to a social media platform on or after January 1, 2026.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3862 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced establishing that the bill's provisions relating to user age limitation apply to any social media platform that operates in Texas.

The substitute revises the requirement of the introduced for the board of trustees of a district or the governing body of a charter school to adopt a policy prohibiting a student in the district or charter school from using a smart device during instructional time by instead specifying that the policy must prohibit such a student from using a smart device during the school day.