Critics say online privacy bill concerning minors actually undermines parents

(The Center Square) – An online privacy bill that critics contend undermines parental rights is set for executive session Friday in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

Senate Bill 5708, sponsored by Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, is titled a bill “Protecting Washington Children Online.”

The legislation would require companies that provide online services to provide data and privacy protections to all users under 18 years old. Those protections include not collecting and using a minor’s personal information, not providing them notifications during certain times of the day, and not providing them with an “addictive feed” that displays content based on the minor’s information.

Critics say the benign title of SB 5708 is misleading.

“While safeguarding children online from inappropriate content is everyone’s goal, SB 5708 is deeply flawed and poses serious litigation risks to business and parental rights,” Washington Policy Center Small Business Center Director Mark Harmsworth wrote in a Wednesday blog.

In an interview with The Center Square, Harmsworth explained the intent of stopping addictive social media feeds that target children is, on its face, a good policy.

“Unfortunately, what it also does is remove some of the parental controls, and I think this is a first step of bills we’re going to see on this issue where the parents no longer have the control that they need over a kid that’s been granted access to a social media feeds,” he said.

Critics contend the bill includes language alerting the minor if a parent or guardian is seeking location services or other information about platforms being used on the device.

During a Wednesday public hearing on the bill before the Senate Ways & Means Committee, Sen. Lisa Wellman, D-Mercer Island, asked committee staff about the bill’s language regarding parental control.

“These devices are usually fairly expensive, and I assume, in many cases, are purchased by parents,” she said. “I didn’t see anything here that had any part of responsibility on the parent into what a child was looking at and using. Did I miss something?”

A committee staffer replied, “You are correct, the bill does not address parental responsibilities.”

Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, followed up along the same lines.

“Sen. Wellman just kind of covered what I was going to ask,” she said, “if it completely takes parental rights out as well. I think you answered that, and it’s a yes.”

Lake Washington High School student Keira Domer, along with two of her classmates, testified in support of the bill.

“Growing up with such a wide range of social media influences deeply affected my mental health, even causing me to have an eating disorder at one point because I was constantly comparing myself to images online,” Domer explained.

“While parents undoubtedly want to protect their children online, this bill shifts significant control to the state,” Harmsworth wrote in his blog. “As an example, the bill calls for not collecting the minor’s location information which would be invaluable in a kidnapping or missing person case where the parent needs to locate the child’s whereabouts.”

Harmsworth told The Center Square that what concerns him most about the bill is a provision for “location” protections.

“I’m a privacy guy and I don’t want the big platforms to know necessarily where I am when I’m using my device,” he said. “But this is a tool for a parent if a child is lost or whatever, they can use it as a way to know where they are. Hiding this from parents is a really bad idea.”

Harmsworth suggested other bills concerning parents' rights offered this session indicate a dangerous trend, obliquely referencing Senate Bill 5181. Notifications were required "at the first opportunity, but in all cases within 48 hours" under the first version of the bill.

“Like the 48 hours for schools to notify parents if something happens at school. You start to see a pattern of the majority party undermining parental rights,” he said. “It’s just eroding parental responsibility and we’re seeing with other bills little bits of that taken away, so I don’t support any of these. I want to see parents engaged with their kids because hiding anything from the parents is just wrong.”