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Committee advances bill to tighten internet acceptable-use policies in schools after parent, clinician testimony
Summary
House Bill 1886, revising school internet acceptable-use policies and requiring audits and complaint procedures, moved to full education after parents and clinicians testified about children encountering graphic or exploitative content on school-issued devices.
The subcommittee advanced House Bill 1886, which would revise internet acceptable-use policy requirements for local education agencies and public charter schools, require third‑party audits (or qualifying E‑rate audits) and establish a complaints process for alleged use of prohibited material. Sponsor Chairman Supiki (S4) said the bill would require providers to block prohibited content and set parent notification rules for under‑18 students who access prohibited websites on school-provided internet.
Three witnesses described incidents they said illustrate the problem. Cheryl L. Benson (S8) said she "was able to access my child's browser history and found that my 3rd grader, for over a month, was accessing inappropriate content on her school device at school time on a school wifi." Dr. Niddhi Gupta (S10) and Dr. Stacy Jagger (S9) described clinical examples and urged proactive controls such as whitelisting rather than reactive blacklists. Members asked for specifics and for more implementation time; the sponsor noted an untimely amendment extending implementation to the 2027–28 school year would be filed in full committee. The committee recorded 6 ayes, 0 nays to report HB1886 to full education.
