TRENTON, NJ – Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey (PPAFNJ) is actively campaigning against a New Jersey legislative bill aimed at regulating minors’ access to social media. This bill mandates parental consent and identity verification for minors to hold social media accounts.
Planned Parenthood offers teens. access to reproductive healthcare information such as sexual education, sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, abortions, and ‘morning after’ pills.
The bill requires social media companies to ensure that New Jersey residents under 18 obtain express consent from a parent or guardian to create an account. The verification process involves submitting government-issued identification or an alternative form, with an independent third-party verifying the validity of this information. The bill outlines strict privacy measures, ensuring that the verification process does not retain any personal identification information.
PPAFNJ argues that this bill could limit young people’s access to essential health and wellbeing information. Through online advertisements and information campaigns, the organization emphasizes the importance of providing unrestricted access to resources for young people to lead healthy lives.
The bill outlines various methods for age identification, including mobile phone subscriber verification, knowledge-based authentication, and facial analysis. It also places restrictions on direct messaging for minor accounts and limits the collection of personal information from these accounts.
Critics of the bill, like PPAFNJ, are concerned about the potential impact on young people’s access to information, especially in sensitive areas like health and sexuality. The debate continues as the bill moves through the legislative process, with both supporters and opponents voicing strong opinions about its implications for privacy, safety, and access to information.