SC legislators are considering introducing online protection for children – WIS NEWS 10

Columbia, SC (WIS) – Some South Carolina MPs want to play a bigger role in determining that the content of children can have access online.

They claim that this is for the sake of saving children and teens on the Internet and in applications, but others claim that their impetus is unnecessary governmental overall.

“This is obviously a very important question, if not, in my opinion, one of the most important questions we will take this year,” said reporter Travis Moore, R – Spartanburg.

A bill that progresses in the House of Representatives, “The Social Media Regulation Act in South Carolina” is aimed at sites and applications for social media.

This would forbid minors from having social media accounts without parental permission, to ban adults from messages of minors on social media, unless they are already connected, and expand parental control over social media accounts of minors.

The Judiciary’s subcompower of the Chamber, chaired by Moore, advanced this bill to the full committee of the Chamber’s judiciary last week.

The Chamber adopted a bill to check the age on social media last year, but never progressed in the Senate.

A number of other countries have introduced or have passed restrictions on the access of minors to social media, a boost, which is also made at the federal level.

A second bill, which is considered in the State House this year, “The Law on Failure to Complete the Children’s Safety” will take a lower approach requiring smart phones and tablets sold for the use of minors are automatically available with certain settings and filters by default S

They would also prevent them from withdrawing access to applications and materials considered harmful to minors, especially if they contain sexually explicit content and block them to uninstall the filter without adult permission.

He will also send a signal if a child tries to withdraw or access to blocked content.

The leading sponsor of the bill, reporter Brandon Guffy, compares it to other restrictions that the government is already applying.

“If I want to take my child to a nominal R movie, I can buy a ticket for him. However, if my child tries to enter there, he or she is automatically rejected from his entry, if he cannot prove that he is 18 years old, “said Guffy, R – York, in front of Moore’s subcommittee.

But Guff’s bill is met with resistance from external technological groups.

“This is not really a technological crisis; This is a parent crisis, “Justin Hill testifies to the Netchoice Technology Commercial Group.

They claim that these characteristics are already available to parents whose job is to regulate what their children may and cannot have access, not the government.

“We believe that the default filter cancels these existing solutions and reduces the flexibility for families who have already taken steps to protect their children online,” says Caleb Williamson, a state councilor for a public policy of the Technology Commercial Association Act.

Guffy claims that it is more effective to focus on the limited number of manufacturers per phone than tens of thousands of social media applications there and then assume that parents know how to include these safety features.

“Is it perfect? No. The parent can still buy a phone, hand over a phone from an adult and have nothing to do about it, “Guffy said. “But this is the choice of the parent in the creation. But every time you buy a phone and say that this is for a child, it must have child safety features. “

According to Guffy, Utah is the only other country with legislation similar to the default setting bill.

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