Using social media applications like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook may take a few more steps soon after a 2024 Mississippi law that’s faced ongoing litigation went into effect in July.
The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act, which was named in honor of Walker Montgomery, a 16-year-old in Starkville who took his life in December 2022 after being a victim of a sexual extortion scheme carried out over social media, has been allowed to take effect.
“It is an honor that our loss has at least created an atmosphere where we can have this conversation,” Walker’s father Brian Montgomery said. “But my bigger goal is that we protect kids… because I know that if something like this would have been in place, it’s a very good chance that Walker would still be here.”
The decision came from a panel of three judges in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which decided to stay a previous injunction on the law on July 17. The stay allows the law to be enforced by the state and to be in effect while a civil case against the legislation continues in federal court.
The act puts into law that social media services have to create some way of verifying if a user is a minor and if so that parental consent to use social media has to be given.
Some methods listed in the law of giving parental consent include the parent calling a phone number, responding to an email or performing a video call with the social media organization.
The legislation itself says social media services “shall make commercially reasonable efforts” to verify the age of the person creating an account but it doesn’t list a specific method like inputting a birthday or providing a form of identification.
This language was intentional because legislators didn’t want to write in a specific method that would box in social media companies, especially as technology continues evolving, District 15 Sen. Bart Williams, R-Starkville, said.
“We didn’t give specific criteria of how they verify it,” Williams said. “… We think they’re experts in doing that, and we left it to the industry’s discretion.”
The intention through this legislation was to provide some kind of starting point of legislation to protect children on the internet, said District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville.
“We’re trying to capture as much as we can, but not necessarily put handcuffs on (social media companies) and keep them from being able to do this in a viable way,” he said.
Will the law stay in effect?
NetChoice, a trade association of online businesses, which filed the lawsuit against the state for this legislation, filed an emergency application on July 21 to Justice Samuel Alito Jr. in the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the injunction, said Co-Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center Paul Taske.
“If the Supreme Court rules in our favor and grants the application, the injunction will take effect again and the law will not be enforceable against those NetChoice members,” Taske said.
The ongoing litigation in the federal court is because of what the group sees as a violation of First Amendment rights to access lawful speech against its eight members in the suit including Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram, he said.
“This law … restricts access to speech that is lawful for everyone of any age to view and receive,” Taske said. “And so we view that as fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment. We believe that it is crucially important for people to be able to access speech, both on social media and through other forms of communication as well.”
Taske said all of the necessary filings have been done and expects the Supreme Court to rule on the application within the next couple of weeks.
The efforts by NetChoice didn’t come as a surprise to Brian Montgomery because of previous lawsuits that have come against similar legislation in other states, he said.
“What NetChoice is trying to do is put it back on the shelf for further litigation,” he said. “… Just about every legislative effort that protects kids but limits tech’s ability to run a wild west type structure has been challenged in court.”
No matter what ultimately happens to this legislation, both Williams and Brian Montgomery are glad that this is bringing additional attention to the conversation regarding internet safety for children.
“The outcome of this legislation could set the precedent for our nation in terms of how we view Internet safety,” Brian said. “… It’s not just a Mississippi outcome. This will affect the whole country.”
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