Bill Text: MS SB2740 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi Senate Bill 2740

Introduced

Bill Title: Mississippi Keeping Kids Safe Online Act; enact.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [SB2740 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2026-SB2740-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2026 Regular Session

To: Judiciary, Division A

By: Senator(s) Fillingane

Senate Bill 2740

AN ACT TO ENACT THE MISSISSIPPI KEEPING KIDS SAFE ONLINE ACT; TO DEFINE TERMS; TO PROHIBIT INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS FROM ATTEMPTING TO ENTER INTO ANY CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT WITH A USER WHO IS A MINOR WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE MINOR'S PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN; TO PROVIDE THAT IF AN INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE PROVIDER KNOWINGLY AND INTENTIONALLY COMMITS CERTAIN ACTS, IT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR THE CIVIL PENALTIES AND OTHER REMEDIES PROVIDED IN THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS; TO AUTHORIZE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO BRING AN ACTION TO ENJOIN VIOLATION OF THIS CHAPTER AND RECOVER CIVIL PENALTIES; TO AUTHORIZE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO RECOVER REASONABLE ATTORNEY'S FEES, COSTS, AND REASONABLE EXPENSES OF LITIGATION INCURRED IN AN ACTION UNDER THIS CHAPTER; TO DIRECT CODIFICATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Keeping Kids Safe Online Act."

SECTION 2. As used in this chapter, all words and phrases used herein shall have the same meanings as are ascribed to and provided for them in Section 11-77-3, and the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Adult" means any person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older.

(b) "Broadband provider" has the meaning assigned under 47 USC � 1752(a)(2).

(d) "Image" means a picture of the person.

(e) "Interactive computer service" has the meaning assigned under 47 USC � 230.

(f) "Likeness" means a physical, digital or other depiction or representation of a person.

(g) "Name" means the first or last name, or the nickname, of a person when used in a context that reasonably identifies the person with particularity.

(h) "Persona" means any of the following:

(i) A person's name;

(ii) A person's image;

(iii) A person's likeness;

(iv) A person's personal identifying information; or

(v) A person's precise geolocation data.

(i) "Personal identifying information" means any information, including sensitive information, that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual. The term includes pseudonymous information when the information is used by a controller or processor in conjunction with additional information that reasonably links the information to an identified or identifiable individual. The term does not include deidentified information.

(j) "Usage history" means, with respect to any user of an interactive computer service, any information stored by the service recording the user's activity on the service or embedded messaging service, including, without limitation:

(i) The date of each instance on which the user uses the interactive computer service;

(ii) The duration of each instance of the user's use of the interactive computer service, or alternatively, the total duration of the user's use of the interactive computer service over a commercially reasonable period selected by the interactive computer service, such as daily or weekly;

(iii) The date and content of any post (including text, photographs, images, videos, files, links, shares, or saves) made by the user on the user's profile or feed or the profile or feed of another user;

(iv) The date and content of any post (including text, photographs, videos, links, shares, or saves) made by another user on the user's feed or profile;

(v) The date and content of any comments or reactions posted by the user on the user's own profile or feed or the profile or feed of another user;

(vi) The date and content of any comments or reactions posted by another user on the user's profile or feed;

(vii) If the interactive computer service is a game or game platform, the identification of any games played, the duration of the user's use, and the username, or other equivalent information by which the other users are identified on the game or game platform, of other game participants;

(viii) The date, location, and content of any other interactive computer service accessed by the user from the interactive computer service in question;

(ix) The username of every other user with whom the user has established, or has been requested to establish, an ongoing connection, including as a friend, follower, or similar relationship, identifying for each such other user:

1. Whether the other user is an entity or a natural person, and if a natural person whether the interactive computer service has verified that the other user is an adult;

2. The username or other equivalent information by which the other user is identified on the interactive computer service;

3. The date on which the connection was requested;

4. Whether the connection request was accepted, refused, or ignored;

(x) The date and content (including text, photographs, images, videos, files, links) of any messages or chats involving the user and other users identified by the usernames or other equivalent information by which the other users are identified on the interactive computer service;

and,

(xi) Any other information stored by the interactive computer service recording the user's activity on the service or embedded messaging service.

SECTION 3. (1) Interactive computer service providers shall not attempt to enter into any contractual agreement with a user who is a minor without the prior express consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. This prohibition includes, without limitation, any agreement with, acknowledgement of, or consent to the interactive computer service's terms of service, terms of use, terms and conditions, or similar agreement, however described. Any such agreement purportedly entered into with a user who is a minor is, from its inception and thereafter, null, void, and of no effect. Any such agreement entered into with a minor with the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian may not conflict with the terms of this act. Any term or condition of such an agreement entered into with a minor with the prior express consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian shall, to the extent it conflicts with any provision or purpose of this act, be considered void as against the public policy of this state and stricken from the agreement from its inception and thereafter.

(2) Except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section, an interactive computer service provider that knowingly and intentionally commits any of the following acts shall be liable for the civil penalties and other remedies provided in Section 4 of this chapter:

(a) Purports to enter into a contract or agreement prohibited by subsection (1) of this section without the prior express consent of the minor user's parent or legal guardian.

(b) Allows a user who is a minor to access material harmful to minors using the interactive computer service;

(c) Makes any part of the persona of a user who is a minor accessible to other persons using the interactive computer service; or

(d) Allows an adult to use the interactive computer service to communicate with a user who is a minor.

(3) Any interactive computer service or third party that performs the required age verification shall not retain any identifying information of the user after access has been granted to the interactive computer service.

(4) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall not apply to any interactive computer service that:

(a) Performs reasonable age-verification methods to verify the adult age of the user who is a minor, or

(b) That satisfies both of the following requirements:

(i) Obtains, in a separate signed writing for each instance of conduct prohibited by paragraph (a) of this subsection, the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian to the conduct in question; and

(ii) Continually provides the minor's parent or legal guardian, as part of the interactive computer service, a user-friendly means of accessing the minor's usage history on that service.

(5) (a) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any bona fide news or public interest broadcast or report, and shall not be construed to affect the rights of any news-gathering organizations.

(b) No broadband provider, affiliate or subsidiary of a broadband provider, search engine, or cloud service provider shall be held to have violated the provisions of this section if enforcing this section against the provider would be inconsistent with 47 USC � 230.

(6) An interactive computer service provider may only obtain the express consent of a parent or legal guardian in compliance with this section by one or more of the following methods:

(a) Providing a form for the minor's parent or legal guardian to sign and return to the interactive computer service provider by common carrier, facsimile, or electronic scan;

(b) Providing a toll-free telephone number for the minor's parent or guardian to call to provide documented consent;

(d) Collecting information related to the government-issued identification of the minor's parent or legal guardian and deleting that information after confirming the identity of the minor's parent or legal guardian;

(e) Allowing the minor's parent or legal guardian to provide consent by responding to an email and taking additional steps to verify the identity of the minor's parent or legal guardian; or

(f) Any other commercially reasonable method of obtaining consent in light of available technology.

SECTION 4. (1) If an interactive computer service provider, having been given no less than thirty (30) days' prior notice by the Attorney General that it is in violation of Section 3 of this chapter, continues to knowingly violate Section 3 of this chapter, and the Attorney General believes that the action is in the public interest, the Attorney General may bring an action in the Seventh Circuit Court District or the circuit court in any county in which the minor user accessed the interactive computer service in question in the course of conduct that constitutes the violation to enjoin the violation, recover a civil penalty, and obtain other relief the court considers appropriate.

(2) A civil penalty imposed under this section for a violation of Section 3 of this chapter may be in an amount equal to not more than the total, if applicable, of:

(a) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per day that the interactive computer service provider operates an interactive computer service in violation of the age verification or parental consent requirements of Section 3 of this chapter;

(b) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per instance when the interactive computer service provider retains identifying information in violation of Section 3(3) of this chapter; and

(c) If, because of the interactive computer service provider's violation of the age verification or parental consent requirements of this section:

(i) One or more minors access material harmful to minors;

(ii) Another person uses the interactive computer service to access any part of the persona of a user who is a minor; or

(iii) An adult uses the interactive computer service to communicate with a user who is a minor;

an additional amount of not more than Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) per instance.

(3) The amount of a civil penalty under this section shall be based on:

(a) The seriousness of the violation, including the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation;

(b) The history of previous violations;

(d) The economic effect of a penalty on the entity on whom the penalty will be imposed;

(e) The entity's knowledge that the act constituted a violation of Section 11-79-3; and

(f) Any other matter that justice may require.

(4) The Attorney General may recover reasonable attorney's fees, costs, and reasonable expenses of litigation incurred in an action under this section, including, without limitation, expert witness fees and court reporter's fees.

SECTION 5. Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall be codified as a chapter within Title 11, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2027.