INDIANAPOLIS – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 11 regarding minor access to social media and SB 143 regarding parental rights.
Chris Daley, ACLU of Indiana executive director, issued the following statement:
“We are disappointed that Senate Judiciary passed both SB 11 and SB 143 today. Collectively, these two bills undermine the constitutional rights of Hoosier minors.
When it comes to SB 11, we understand and support the goal of protecting Hoosiers under 16 from the potential mental health harms associated with social media. However, we can protect our state’s youth while also living up to our constitutional principles. We continue to urge the General Assembly to work with stakeholders to find permissible ways to support Indiana’s parents in making informed decisions about their child’s access to social media.
SB 143 creates conditions where the privacy rights of minors in Indiana could be infringed upon by a wide variety of government employees. Because it is so broad, SB 143 requires more than 12% of Indiana’s total workforce to provide “information,” an undefined term, about minors with whom they interact in large and small ways when requested by the minor’s parent or parents. There are restrictions on how much the government can intrude on minors’ privacy. SB 143 does not recognize, much less balance, those rights.”