Committee advances bill to impose a duty of care on online gaming platforms to protect minors

The House Judiciary Committee advanced House Bill 11‑48, a sponsor-driven measure that would establish a state-level duty of care for online gaming platforms to reduce risks to minors.

The sponsor told the committee the bill focuses on new legal duties for online gaming services and includes provisions on age assurance, compulsive-use protections and algorithm transparency. After testimony and stakeholder feedback, the sponsor moved a sequence of amendments to narrow the bill’s scope to strictly target online gaming and to remove a proposed fee on in‑game purchases. The committee adopted amendments clarifying the bill applies only to online gaming businesses, adding a severability clause, and striking the fee and certain data-privacy sections the sponsors said needed more work.

Supporters framed the bill as a prevention-focused approach, arguing online gaming has become a social-media-like environment for children and that platforms’ algorithms and design features can expose minors to predatory contact and addictive behaviors. The sponsor cited research and anecdotal case work about unwanted solicitations and said other states have taken bipartisan steps to impose similar guardrails. She said the priority was a streamlined duty of care that would be workable for both platforms and families.

Some members pressed the sponsors on specific struck language: who would control or access certain data, how parental consent or control would be preserved, and which privacy protections remain in the pared-down bill. The sponsor said she would continue working with stakeholders on the privacy and data sections and that the current package represents a “bare bones” version focused on duties and compulsive-use protections.

After closing remarks, the sponsor moved House Bill 11‑48, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion was seconded and carried.

What’s next: HB 11‑48 will be debated in the Committee of the Whole; sponsors said they expect further drafting on privacy, age‑assurance and algorithm-transparency language before final passage or additional floor action.