Georgia Republicans are looking to give more power to parents to determine whether children should have access to social media in a new bill that is gaining traction.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Sen. Jason Anavitarte said in a news conference Monday that they are looking to pass legislation requiring children to have their parents’ explicit permission to create social media accounts. The proposal could also restrict accounts on other online services.

“It’s important that we empower parents,” said Anavitarte, a top Republican in the Georgia state Senate. “A lot of parents don’t know how to restrict content.”

The state is looking to join Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Utah, who also passed laws requiring parental consent for children to use social media. California also enacted a law requiring additional protections for children’s privacy and safety.

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Anavitarte said the new rules would be modeled after a Louisiana law passed this year.

The measure, which takes effect in 2024, requires social media services to verify an account holder’s age and disallows someone younger than 18 to join without parental consent.

Some members of Congress are considering national legislation requiring parental consent for minors.

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Anavitarte said he is in contact with Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, and said he and Jones intend to discuss plans with the social media company.

Meta announced last year that it was taking steps to verify someone’s age, such as allowing people to upload their ID. Meta says it provides “age-appropriate experiences” for teens ages 13 to 17.

The push for more parental involvement in children’s social media use comes after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned in May that social media is not safe for young people.

Murthy called on tech companies, parents and caregivers to take “immediate action to protect kids now” and asked tech companies to increase transparency with policymakers to regulate social media for safety.

Social media companies already comply with current federal regulations by banning kids under 13 from signing up for their platforms.

The Pew Research Center found these restrictions are easily evaded, as up to 95% of teens ages 13 to 17 report using a social media platform.

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Anavitarte also said he wants to strengthen Georgia’s law on cyberbullying by reviving his 2022 proposal requiring schools to warn students and parents that some acts of bullying could lead to criminal stalking penalties.

Fox Business has reached out to Anavitarte’s office for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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More delays and no astronauts are on the horizon for Boeing after safety issues were detected on its Starliner spacecraft.

Problems with parachute lines and flammable tape will keep a crewed flight test grounded until at least March 2024, a Boeing official said Monday. The official said removing the tape should not take more than a few weeks, but redesigned parachutes will not be ready until December.

If the parachutes pass their drop test at the end of the year, Boeing said Starliner should be ready to carry two NASA astronauts the International Space Station (ISS) as early as March. However, an exact date cannot be known because the launch is conditional on an Atlas V rocket being provided for the capsule by United Launch Alliance and an opening to dock at the space station.

The delay may cause a financial headache for Boeing. The Starliner program incurred a $257 million loss during the second quarter because of a previously announced launch delay for its first crewed spaceflight. 

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The capsule was scheduled to have a test flight in July with two astronauts. However, the test flight, already behind schedule, was halted again when final reviews uncovered issues with the parachute lines and other problems that were present on last year’s test flight with no one on board. Officials said the issues should have been caught years ago.

The program so far has cost Boeing $1.4 billion. 

Mark Nappi, manager for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, said Monday that technicians are almost halfway done peeling off the flammable tape used to protect capsule wiring. Tape that cannot be removed from vulnerable spots will be covered with a protective coating.

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The original guidelines for usage of the tape were confusing, according to company and NASA officials. Still, they later determined it could not be used in some areas because it was flammable.

The parachute issue is a bigger problem. The “soft links” on the parachute lines did not meet safety standards and appeared to have been overlooked by tests years ago. The parachutes are now being redesigned to fix the issue.

“There’s always the mystery of something else that can pop up,” Nappi told reporters. But given the current situation, “we have a pretty good schedule laid out” to launch as early as March.

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NASA is paying Boeing and SpaceX to develop spacecraft that can shuttle astronauts to and from the ISS. SpaceX has had far more success with its Crew Dragon spacecraft, which flew its crew test flight in March 2020. Dragon will launch its seventh operational mission in roughly two weeks. Boeing has launched only two Starliner flights with no crew aboard.

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NASA has insisted on hiring two competing crew launchers for its ISS project, which will end in 2030. The government’s goal is to fly one Boeing and one SpaceX crew flight each year. 

Fox News’ Danielle Genovese and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The Cyberspace Administration of China said Tuesday that it has issued draft rules to regulate the application of facial recognition technology.

The CAC wrote that facial recognition technology can only be used to process facial information when there is a specific purpose and sufficient need, as well as when strict protective measures are taken. 

Utilization of the tech will require the individual’s consent, except for instances where it is not required by law or regulations to obtain personal consent. 

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The administration explained the installation of related equipment in public places should be necessary to maintain public safety, comply with relevant state regulations and be installed along with prominent reminder signage. 

Devices will not be installed in hotel rooms, public bathrooms, changing rooms, restrooms and other places that may infringe on privacy. Furthermore, business establishments like hotels, banks, stations, airports, stadiums, exhibition halls, museums, art galleries and libraries will not use the tech unless required by laws and regulations to conduct business. 

Organizations are required to take strict protection measures to prevent illegal access, copying, disclosure, external provision and the dissemination of personal images. 

In addition, building managers cannot use it to verify personal identity as the only way to enter and exit property management areas. 

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People can only use facial recognition technology to remotely identify individuals at the request of other interested parties with personal information that is directly and necessarily related to the request and no organization or individual may use the tech to analyze a person’s race, ethnicity or religion. 

To process the facial information of children under the age of 14, consent must be obtained from the minor’s parents or guardians. 

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Anyone who violates the regulations, causing damage to others, will bear civil liability, according to the law.

In 2020, Chinese media reported that facial recognition was used to activate toilet roll dispensers in public toilets, which triggered both public and regulatory concerns at the time.

Chinese courts and local governments have since ruled against and fined companies for facial recognition overuse, according to the South China Morning Post.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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