The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act

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The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act
Seal of Mississippi.svg
Mississippi Legislature
  • AN ACT TO CREATE THE "WALKER MONTGOMERY PROTECTING CHILDREN ONLINE ACT" FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROTECTING MINOR CHILDREN FROM ONLINE HARMFUL MATERIAL AND ACCESS TO SUCH MATERIAL; TO REQUIRE DIGITAL SERVICE USERS TO REGISTER THEIR AGE; TO LIMIT THE COLLECTION AND USE OF MINOR USERS' PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION; TO REQUIRE DIGITAL SERVICES PROVIDERS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A STRATEGY TO PREVENT OR MITIGATE CERTAIN HARMS TO MINORS; TO AMEND SECTION 75-24-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A VIOLATION OF THIS ACT IS AN UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE THAT IS ENFORCEABLE BY THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE MORPHED IMAGES OF DEPICTING MINOR CHILDREN IN EXPLICIT NATURE IN THE CRIME OF CHILD EXPLOITATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
Citation§ 45-38-1 to 45-38-13
Territorial extentState of Mississippi
Signedsigned on April 30, 2024 by Governor Tate Reeves
Effective April 17, 2025, due to court decision (originally July 1, 2024)
Legislative history
IntroducedFebruary 14, 2024
PassedMarch 12, 2024
Voting summary
  • 121 Mississippi Representatives voted for
  • 0 Mississippi Representatives voted against
PassedApril 8, 2024
Voting summary
  • 49 Mississippi Senators voted for
  • 0 Mississippi Senators voted against
Status: In force

The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act or HB 1126 is an American law in the state of Mississippi. The bill had passed with no votes against it in both the senate and house in the state. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Bill Summary

The law applies to digital services that allows users to make content on public or semi-public profiles which can be signed into and allows sharing that content on a message board, chat room or landing page, video channel or main feed.

However, it doesn't apply to news sources, online games or the content that is be made is by the service itself or is an application website. These services must also verify the age of users by a "commercially reasonable effort" and if the user is under 18 years of age, they must get the consent from a parent or guardian.

Digital services must also limit collection of the known minor's personal identifying information to information reasonably necessary and limit the use of the known minor's personal identifying information as well as limit targeted advertising of harmful material to minors.

It also requires digital services to moderate content that promotes or facilitates the following, that is consistent with evidence-informed medical information self-harm, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and suicidal behaviors, Patterns of use that indicate or encourage, substance abuse or use of illegal drugs, Stalking, physical violence, online bullying, or harassment, grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or other sexual exploitation or abuse; Incitement of violence; or any other illegal activity. [5] [6] [4]

Lawsuit

NetChoice v. Fitch

Southern District Court of Mississippi

On June 7, 2024, The trade associations NetChoice filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Lynn Fitch to The Southern District Court of Mississippi. [7] [8] The Electronic Frontier Foundation would file a brief for the case on June 18, 2024. [9] The law would later be enjoined on July 1, 2024, by Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden for likely violating the first amendment but didn't doubt the good intentions of the law. [10] [11] [12]

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

The case was later appealed to The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 5, 2024, and in October 2024 The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, TechFreedom,Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression,Chamber of Progress, LGBT Tech and Woodhull Freedom Foundation would file briefs for the case. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

The Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments for the case on February 4, 2025. [20]

On April 17, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the injunction because the district court didn't apply the right standard of review for the case and vacating the injunction allowed the law to go into effect. [21]

Impact

On August 22, 2025, social media service Bluesky geoblocked access in Mississippi in response to the act, saying they could not justify the expenses in building the infrastructure required to comply. [22] [23] The company published a blog post criticizing the law for imposing prohibitive financial barriers on web developers who could not afford to comply, as well as its potential implications for privacy and free speech online. [22] [23] [24] Although the service had already complied with a similar law passed in the United Kingdom, the Online Safety Act 2023, Bluesky stated that the Mississippi law required age verification of everyone using the service, as well as record keeping of the ages of users, while by contrast, the UK's Online Safety Act only required one-time age checks for any user accessing potentially sensitive or adult content. [22] [23] Bluesky stated the geoblock would remain in place until legal challenges to the law were resolved. [22] [25]

References

  1. ↑ "HB 1126 - History of Actions/Background (state.ms.us)".
  2. ↑ "0980025.pdf (state.ms.us)" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "0710014.pdf (state.ms.us)" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 "HB1126SG.pdf (state.ms.us)" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "HB1126 (As Sent to Governor) - 2024 Regular Session". billstatus.ls.state.ms.us.
  6. ↑ Ballard, Toren (April 22, 2024). "House Bill 1126: Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act". Mississippi First.
  7. ↑ "NetChoice Sues Mississippi to Block Youth Social Media Law (1)".
  8. ↑ "NetChoice-v.-Fitch_-AS-FILED_Complaint_june-7.pdf" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "NetChoice v. Fitch - EFF amicus brief". Electronic Frontier Foundation. June 27, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Federal judge halts Mississippi law requiring age verification for websites". AP News. July 1, 2024.
  11. ↑ Feiner, Lauren (July 2, 2024). "Judge blocks Mississippi law that required age verification on social media". The Verge.
  12. ↑ "NetChoice-v-Fitch-District-Court-Preliminary-Injuction-Ruling-July-1-2024.pdf" (PDF).
  13. ↑ Chamber of Progress Brief
  14. ↑ FIRE Brief
  15. ↑ "NetChoice v. Fitch 24-60341 | U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit | Justia".
  16. ↑ "NetChoice, L.L.C. v Lynn Fitch-EFF Amicus in Fifth Circuit". Electronic Frontier Foundation. October 4, 2024.
  17. ↑ "NetChoice-v.-Fitch-5th-Cir-24-60341.pdf (techfreedom.org)" (PDF).
  18. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-10-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ↑ "2024-10-03_eff_aclu_aclu-ms_amicus_curiae_brief.pdf" (PDF).
  20. ↑ Court and Special Hearings Calendars
  21. ↑ 24-60341-CV0.pdf
  22. 1 2 3 4 Robertson, Adi (2025-08-22). "Bluesky blocks Mississippi under new age verification law". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  23. 1 2 3 Farokhmanesh, Megan. "Bluesky Goes Dark in Mississippi Over Age Verification Law". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  24. ↑ "Our Response to Mississippi's Age Assurance Law". Bluesky. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  25. ↑ Tyler Wilde (2025-08-23). "Bluesky goes dark in Mississippi over 'likely unconstitutional' age verification law". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
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