State Senate: Republican majority
State House: Republican majority
Governor: Kim Reynolds (R)
Attorney General: Brenna Bird (R)
Summary:
The Iowa legislature has introduced a suite of bills similar to many other states, including proposals to require age verification for social media, restricting social media censorship, and limiting the use of generative AI in election communications, but none have yet become law.
Key Policymakers:
None.
Legislative Activity:
HF 2523: The Social Media Parental Authorization Act. A bill relating to parental authorization for minors to create accounts on social media platforms, providing civil penalties, and including applicability provisions. The bill mandates that social media companies must obtain express parental authorization before allowing minors to create accounts. Additionally, parents or guardians can revoke this authorization at any time. Social media companies are also prohibited from collecting, transferring, or retaining data from minors without such authorization. Key provisions of the bill include granting parents access to their child’s social media account to monitor activities, view posts and messages, and control privacy settings; allowing the Iowa Attorney General to bring civil actions against companies violating these rules, with penalties up to $1,000 per violation; and providing a private right of action for individuals harmed by violations, with potential damages of up to $10,000 per violation, or more if actual damages are higher. Introduced by the House Judiciary Committee in January and passed the House with a large majority on March 6, 2024.
HF 526: Prohibits social media companies from allowing individuals under eighteen to maintain their own social media accounts. If a social media company violates this prohibition, it would be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation. The Attorney General is authorized to enforce these provisions, and any penalties collected would be deposited into the state’s general fund. The bill was introduced on March 1, 2023 by Rep. Henry Stone [R], and subsequently referred to the Ways and Means Committee. On April 10, 2023, the committee report approved the bill and it was renumbered as HF 712 for further consideration but did not progress further.
SF 2286: A bill relating to protections for health care institutions, health care payors, and medical practitioners including those related to the exercise of a right of conscience, whistleblower activities, and free speech, and providing penalties. Introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February 2024 and was voted favorably out of committee.
HF 2549: Relating to the conduct of elections, including the use of artificial intelligence and deceptive statements, and providing penalties. Prohibits the use of artificial intelligence in automatic tabulating equipment, ballot marking devices, and optical scan voting systems. Requires published material generated through the use of artificial intelligence that is designed to expressly advocate for the nomination, election, or defeat of a ballot issue to include a disclosure that the published material was generated using artificial intelligence. A person who fails to include this disclosure may be guilty of a Class D felony. Introduced by the House Economic Growth And Technology Committee in February 2024 and passed the House with a near-unanimous vote in March.
SB 1189: The Protecting Online Free Speech Act. Charges a fee to all social media platforms, but provides an exemption for those that “foster open discourse” and incorporate ‘free speech’ terms of service that are established in the bill. Introduced by the Senate Technology Committee in January 2023 but did not progress.
HF 633 (2021): The bill prohibits a dominant social media company from affecting the ability of a user to create, view, comment, or otherwise interact with content that constitutes constitutionally protected speech on its social networking website by restricting any content on the social networking website, or by restricting the user’s access to the social networking website.The bill provides that, within 30 days after a dominant social media company restricts a user’s content that constitutes constitutionally protected speech or restricts the user’s access shall provide the user with notice explaining why the user’s content was restricted. Introduced by Rep. Jon Jacobsen [R], Rep. Skyler Wheeler [R], and Rep. Anne Osmundson [R] in February 2021 but did not progress.
HF 2114: A bill for an act relating to minors using the internet, including social media and internet safety instruction and education requirements in public schools and liability for publication of obscene material available to minors on the internet. The bill establishes filter requirements for minors and enforcement mechanisms for smartphones, tablets, and other devices. The bill requires that based on the age established during device activation and account setup, automatically activate filters on devices for minors during activation. The bill allows the filter to be deactivated by use of a password. The bill provides that any adult who is not a parent or legal guardian shall not deactivate the filter for a minor. The bill applies only to devices manufactured on or after January 1, 18 2025. The bill allows the attorney general to bring civil action suits against manufactures of devices that do not comply with the bill. The bill also allows private civil actions by parents or guardians of a minor against manufacturers who fail to comply with the bill. The bill details the civil remedies available against a manufacturer that violates the provisions of the bill. The bill provides that a person, except for a parent or guardian, who knowingly deactivated or disabled a filter is guilty of a serious misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $5,000. Introduced by Rep. John Wills [R] in January 2024 and was reported favorably out of committee.
