Dr. Lynn Stucky, Texas State Representative
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday celebrating with family and bringing in the new year with those you cherish. Around our house, it was another busy season of celebrating new life, with our grandson turning one and another little grandbaby expected this spring.
Even at age one, the introduction of technology has already begun. I’m sure it was much of the same in your families as new devices were powered on by parents and kids alike. The more intertwined our children become with technology, the more concerns parents and grandparents share about the exposure to harmful content.
Last year, one of the laws I co-authored was the SCOPE Act, short for Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment. The new law strengthens standards for online advertising to protect children from harmful practices, such as promoting drug-abuse links to a teen seeking anti-drug services. The law also creates new protections against online predators who attempt to target children for grooming or trafficking.
The fight to strengthen parental empowerment doesn’t end there. As part of the SCOPE Act, the legislature will hold hearings on the effect media is having on our children. A joint committee will provide recommended solutions for the 2025 legislative session. In the meantime, Texas continues to roll out new laws I passed to protect children.
HB 1181 forces porn websites to require a government ID to access and view their content. Additionally, the sites are required to include health warnings to be posted. In November the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down an attempt by a lower court judge to stop HB 1181. The law took effect on Sept. 1, 2023.
Beyond technology, I also co-authored other bills that protect our children: SB 14, HB 900, SB 12, and HB 4520. I invite readers to visit my website, www.lynnstucky.com, for the full description of the bills.
With the special sessions concluded, the Texas House will soon receive interim charges for studying ways to continue protecting children and dozens of other issues facing our state. For information about work in the Texas Legislature, contact my office at 512-463-0582 or email [email protected].