Bills that would limit how much data can be harvested from kids online passed overwhelmingly in their respective chambers in Annapolis, Maryland, but there are signs that opponents aren’t finished objecting to the measures.
House and Senate bills would bar tech companies from using data to push personalized ads to children or to track them in real time. The exception would be apps that are used for navigation.
In addition, tech firms that make products that require an account would have to default to the highest privacy setting possible.
While the bills must pass in both chambers before final passage, Net Choice — which represents tech giants Google, TikTok and Meta — has already written a letter to Gov. Wes Moore asking that he veto the bills.
Testifying before a House panel last month, Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel for Net Choice, told lawmakers that the bill was unconstitutional and infringes upon the First Amendment rights of digital companies.
“California tried to do an end run around the First Amendment. They lost. Their law has done absolutely nothing to protect children in the state of California,” said Szabo.
Szabo, who pointed out he’s a parent and lives in Maryland, said, “I am happy to provide solutions; just this is not one of them.”
In the same hearing, Del. C.T. Wilson, chair of the Economic Matters Committee, said lawmakers were intent on passing protections for children online.
Wilson referenced earlier testimony on suicides linked to online bullying.
“I guess … we don’t do anything about that because of freedom of speech?” Wilson continued. “Teddy Roosevelt said: ‘The best thing you can do is the right thing. The second-best thing is the wrong thing, but the worst thing is nothing.'”
Net Choice has filed lawsuits in other states on similar bills. While the organization has anticipated ultimate passage of the bills and asked for a gubernatorial veto, it’s not yet clear if the group will file suit in Maryland.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has expressed support for online protections for children. In written testimony to the House Economic Matters Committee, Brown wrote in support of the House bill.
“HB 603 prohibits the use of deceptive design patterns that mislead and confuse underage users. Thus, [the bill] imposes permissible limits on commercial activity aimed at protecting children from documented harms,” the attorney general said.
Sen. Ben Kramer, who has sponsored a Senate version of the legislation, told WTOP he is confident the bills will be enacted. And in case of a legal challenge, Kramer said, “If Big Tech wants to have a run at it [in the courts], so be it, and we’re not going to be intimidated by them.”
In an email, Gov. Moore’s press secretary Carter Elliott said the governor will review the legislation once it passes both chambers.
“When bills hit his desk, he will thoroughly review them all to ensure that the Moore-Miller Administration is enacting legislation that is in the best interest of all Marylanders,” the press secretary said.
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