Relevant Law
Online Protections for Minors, HB 570, LSA-RS 51:1771 et seq.
Effective date:
July 1, 2026
Age in Scope
- Child: younger than 13
- Younger teenager: 13-15
- Older teenager: 16-18
- Adult: > 18
Companies in Scope
- Covered Application Store: a publicly available website, software application, or electronic service that allows users to download applications from third-party developers onto a mobile device.
- Developer: means a person who owns or controls an application made available through a Covered Application Store in Louisiana.
Age Verification Method
Commercially available methods that are reasonably designed to ensure accuracy, including but not limited to a means of verification provided through the use of a real-time age verification system authorized by the commission of the office of motor vehicles.
For individuals under the age of 18, a method is commercially reasonable if it includes affirmative age attestation by someone who is reasonably believed to be the parent or legal guardian, along with other information collected in the ordinary course of account creation or use.
App Store Obligations
At the time an individual in Louisiana creates an account:
- Request age information from the individual
- Verify the individual’s age category
- Require minor user accounts to be affiliated with a parent account
- Provide notice to the parent account of the age rating and content description for the app or purchase sought
- Obtain verifiable parental consent the affiliated parent account before allowing a minor to download an app, purchase an app, or make an in-app purchase.
After receiving notice of a significant change from a developer, notify users or, for a minor, the affiliated parent account and obtain renewed verifiable parental consent.
App stores must also provide to developers information relating to the age category of users, the status of verified parental consent where applicable, and notify developers when parental consent is revoked.
App stores must protect personal age verification data by limiting collection to what is necessary, and transmitting the data using industry standard encryption protocols.
Developer Obligations
Developers must:
- Verify through the app store data sharing methods the age category of users
- Obtain verifiable parental consent for minor accounts
- Notify app stores of significant changes to the app
- Enforce all age-related restrictions
- Enforce developer-created age-related restrictions
- Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations
- Implement any developer-created safety-related features or defaults
- Request personal age verification data or parental consent at the time the user downloads the app, purchases an app, or when implementing a significant change to the app.
- Developers remain responsible for age verification at the app level required by other applicable law.
- When implementing safety-related features, the developer must use the lowest age category indicated by age verification data.
Enforcement & Penalties
- AG enforcement with penalties up to $10,000 per violation. The AG must give an opportunity to cure.
- Safe harbor for developers who comply with the requirements of the law, use widely adopted industry standards to determine an app’s age rating and content description disclosures, and the developer applies those standards consistently and in good faith.
Relevant Law
Contracts with Minors, LA. Stat. Ann. §§ 9:2717.2
Effective date:
May 8, 2024
Age in Scope
Minors < 18
Companies in Scope
Interactive computer service that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including a service or system that provides access to the internet.
Any website or application by which users are able to create and share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content, including texts, photos, and videos, or to participate in social networking, gaming, or a similar online service.
Key Exceptions
None.
Age Verification Mechanism
None. Assumes strict liability for age.
Key Requirements
- Requires consent (express written authority) of the minor’s parent or legal guardian to create an account or enter into a contract with an interactive computer service. Contracts without parental consent are a relative nullity
Enforcement & Penalties
- Failure to obtain parental consent renders a contract a relative nullity, which can be unilaterally rescinded by the parent or legal representative. Rescinded contracts could require refunding fees
Relevant Law
Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act, La. Stat. Ann. §§ 51: 1751–1759
Effective date:
July 1, 2025 [delayed] *
*Implementation voluntarily delayed pending outcome of constitutional challenge, or December 19, 2025.
Age in Scope
Minors < 16
Companies in Scope
Social media companies that provide a social media platform with at least 5 million account users worldwide and is an interactive computer service that connects users for social interaction, allowing them to create profiles, connect with others, and share content.
Key Exceptions
Excludes online services primarily focused on electronic mail, certain streaming services, preselected content like news or entertainment, online shopping, interactive gaming, virtual gaming, certain photo editing, specific community groups, career development platforms, business-to-business software, teleconferencing services, cloud-related services, academic research, internet access, and certain classified advertising services.
Age Verification Mechanism
Commercially reasonable efforts must be made to verify age, or apply the protections to all account holders.
Key Requirements
- Minors < 16 prohibited from having account without parental consent (via specific consent mechanisms)
- Prohibition on direct messaging between adults and minors, targeted advertising to minors (with exceptions)
- Parental supervision tools (privacy settings; daily time limits; parental notifications)
Enforcement & Penalties
- Enforced by the division of public protection of the Department of Justice
- Can impose administrative fine of up to $2,500 per violation, award damages and any other relief the court considers reasonable
- 45-day cure period
- No private right of action
Relevant Law
Protection of Children’s Internet Data, HB577,
La. Stat. Ann. §§ 51:1761 – 1763
Effective date:
July 1, 2025
Age in Scope
Minors < 18
Companies in Scope
A Social Media Platform (as defined by RS 51:1751) that has at least 1 million account holders worldwide.
Key Exceptions
Same exclusions as set forth in RS 51:1751 (e.g., email, streaming services, online shopping, interactive gaming, EdTech, etc.).
Age Verification Mechanism
Actual knowledge standard. Age verification not required but age estimation permitted.
If Social Media Platform chooses to conduct age estimation, it will not be liable for erroneous estimation or processing in the absence of reasonable evidence that the account holder is a minor.
Key Requirements
Social Media Platform prohibited from:
- Displaying targeted advertising to minors
- Selling Sensitive Personal Data of a minor (e.g., data revealing race, ethnic origin, gender, citizenship, information regarding medial history, mental or physical health, biometric data, specific geolocation)
Enforcement & Penalties
- Enforced by AG
- Can impose civil fine up to $10,000 per violation
- Violation of prior administrative or court order subject to civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation
- 45-day cure period
- No private right of action
Relevant Law
HB 142, Act 440,
La. Stat. Ann § 9:2800.28 La. Stat. Ann. § 9:2800.29
Effective date:
January 1, 2023
Companies & Material in Scope
Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material “harmful to minors” on the internet from a website that contains a “substantial portion” (33+%) of such material.
“Material harmful to minors” is material that: is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest; exploits or principally consists of actual, simulated or animated [listed examples]; and the material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
Exclusions
Bona fide news or public interest broadcast, internet service provider, search engine, or cloud service provider.
Age Verification Mechanism
Reasonable age verification methods include providing:
- a digitized identification card,
- government-issued ID card; or
- any commercially reasonable age verification method that relies on public or private transactional data (i.e., including records from mortgage, education or employment entities) to verify the age of the person.
Other Notable Requirements
Any commercial entity or third party that performs the required age verification shall not retain any identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to the material.
Enforcement & Penalties
Private rights of action: for individuals for damages (including court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees as ordered by the court) resulting from:
- A minor accessing material harmful to minors; and/or
- Retaining the identifying information.
Relevant Law
House Bill 77,
La. Stat. Ann § 51:2121
Effective date:
August 1, 2023
Companies & Material in Scope
Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion (33.3%) of such material.
“Material harmful to minors” means: any material that: is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest; exploits, is devoted to, or principally consists of descriptions of actual, simulated, or animated display or depiction of [listed examples], in a manner patently offensive; and the material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value to minors.
Exclusions
Any bona fide news or public interest broadcast, internet service providers, search engines, or cloud service providers.
Age Verification Mechanism
“Reasonable age verification methods” means using any of the following methods:
- Providing a digitized identification card
- Requiring the person attempting to access the material to comply with a commercial age verification system that verifies in any of the following ways:
- Government-issued identification
- Any commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data to verify the age of the person attempting to access the information
Enforcement & Penalties
Attorney General enforcement: To provide 30 days to cure. Failure to age-screen may result in:
- Civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each day of violation
- Additional civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each knowing violation of failing to perform reasonable age verification
- All costs, expenses, and fees related to investigations and proceedings associated with the violation, including attorney fees
U.S. Online Safety Law Tracker
U.S. states are passing legislation to protect children’s online safety at a rapid pace, from novel legislation aimed at protecting minors on social media, gaming platforms and other online services, to providing teens additional consent rights and data protections, and protecting minors from harmful content. Below is a state-by-state law tracker to help businesses stay informed and navigate the evolving online safety legislative landscape. The tracker provides a bird’s-eye view of the various state online safety, privacy and harmful content laws that have passed, along with their effective dates, scope, key requirements, penalties and more. We will update the tracker periodically to reflect new legislation and key changes to existing laws.
Click on individual states to explore.
Last updated August 18, 2025
Information is only shown for states with defined laws to-date.
Please note that these laws are in flux and subject to change; additional details in the statutes, other sources of interpretation, and local laws in cities and counties may also apply.
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