Yesterday, we alerted our email subscribers to a bizarre item WPC's Mark Harmsworth found in Senate Bill 5708 that would mandate social media companies alert minors if their parents or guardians are tracking their activity. It was a shocking section to see in a bill ostensibly designed to increase online safety for children. 

The email alert caught fire and has been forwarded broadly. I saw the issue picked up by KVI's Ari Hoffman and Conservative Ladies of Washington for example. But the issue goes well beyond traditional conservative vs liberal or Progressive battlelines. The parent-child relationship is primal. This is the second or third incident in the current legislative session that seems to put the state above or in confrontation with the parental relationship. Parents are their children's first protectors, first educators, first advisors. When anyone - including the state - seeks to step in and interfere with that relationship and a parent's role, it sparks alarm in parents across the spectrum of politics -- as it should. 

After our email alert, noted that at least one of the bill's sponsors (Sen. Keith Wagoner, 39th LD) took to YouTube to let parents know that he would be working to get rid of this section of the bill. WPC will be watching to see what changes, if any, occur in the bill and will keep you informed. It's a good reminder that being involved and informed matter. Your voice matters. 

Here is the text of the email alert sent out yesterday.  Check it out and if you have friends or family that you think would value this kind of information, be sure to share this with them and tell them so sign up to get WPC delivered direct to their email box and help us amplify the voices for accountability and change in Washington.

Senate Bill 5708 would require social media companies to “provide an obvious signal to the minor when the minor is being monitored or tracked,” by the “minor’s parent, guardian,” or others. The legislation actively makes it more difficult for parents to detect any dangerous interactions their children may be having online by warning minors that they are being watched.

This bill is being heard in the State Senate Ways and Means Committee TODAY at 1:30pm. 

There are aspects of this bill that many will undoubtedly welcome because protecting children online is essential. However, there are further considerations the bill should address and are outlined in Mark Harmsworth's blog on it here. 

You can express your view on this or any other aspect of the view by signing up to offer testimony (written or live via video) here. Scroll down the bill list and you'll find it 9th from the bottom, then follow the prompts. You can offer written or video testimony or simply have your view (pro or con) on the legislation noted.