Subcommittee debates HB 293’s device-based age filters, technical feasibility and penalties

Chairwoman Pedernal convened a Judiciary subcommittee work session to continue discussion of House Bill 293, which would require certain new mobile devices to ask a user’s age at setup and enable filters intended to prevent minors from accessing obscene material.

The session focused on several recurring themes: whether device-based prompts and filters are technologically feasible across different operating systems, whether the state can or should target devices rather than content providers, privacy and constitutional concerns tied to age verification, and whether criminal penalties in the bill would be appropriate or enforceable.

Members and advocates said the bill’s intent—to reduce minors’ exposure to obscene material online—is widely shared, but they disagreed on how to achieve it. “I think that this bill is really important for the safety of kids,” Representative Kumta said, arguing parents vary in technical ability and that device-level protections could help. Representative McFarland said any statutory language should avoid “infringement upon those individual liberties” and recommended identifying a “minimum viable set of criteria”…