Senate committee weighs LB383, a parental‑consent and age‑verification bill for social media

Lincoln — The Judiciary Committee heard LB383, introduced by Sen. Tanya Storer, which would require social media platforms to verify a user's age before allowing a person under 18 to open an account and to obtain parental consent for minors. Storer framed the bill as restoring parental authority over children's social media access and described age verification methods that do not require retention of personal identifying information.

Storer opened by saying, "The impact of social media on youth mental health and safety is no longer up for debate," and urged lawmakers to provide parents tools to manage their children's online interactions. She described technological options such as zero‑knowledge proofs and biometric age‑estimation…