Introduction.

When  enacted, the Turning the Page Act (TPA) will serve as a state-wide mandate authorizing the restrictions placed upon minors in their use of and access to certain websites, apps, and social media platforms. TPA will also contain guidelines for the use of electronic devices that are internet-enabled during regular school hours at all Nebraska secondary schools. Finally, TPA will introduce the Nebraska D.O.R.E. program (Digital Online Resistance Education). This program, modeled after the highly successful D.A.R.E program, will be administered to all 7th and 8th grade students and will focus on the prevention of digital crime. 

Key Concepts of TPA.

1) BAN access to Digital Service Providers(s) by minors under 15 years old. Allow access w/age-verification via a parental/guardian consent form for minors 15 years old to 17 years old. If access w/parental consent is authorized, Digital Serice Providers (DSPs) will have filtered content to protect the minor user against harmful content. Use filtered algorithms to prevent minor-adult contact via video chat, live chat, email, message boards, etc. 

2) Digital Service Providers or 3rd party must provide age-verification/authentication utility and have the ability to filter, mask, redact, or otherwise block certain content that should be unavailable to minors as described in the next section.

3) TPA requires all websites, apps, social media platforms and other DSPs that contain harmful material, and/or promote, glorify, or allow users to upload content to require age-verification. "Harmful material" is defined as but not limited to:

• violence
• self-harm
• suicide
• substance abuse
• eating disorders
• stalking
• bullying
• dating
• harassment
• grooming
• trafficking
• pornography
• child pornography
• sexual exploitation

4) BAN minors (those under 18 years old) from dating websites and apps, pornography sites, websites that glorify violence, including chatrooms, chatboards, sites and apps that have the ability to post messages.

5) BAN minors (those under 18 years old) from dating, porn, violence, self-harm, gambling/tobacco and any other website and apps that display, include content, images, text, any of the "harmful material" listed above and entice, encourage, glorify, or in any way normalize the material

6) BAN social media sites/apps for children under 15 years old. Allow filtered access and content with Age ID verification via parental/guardian consent forms. Require social media to utilize a filtering software that blocks all harmful material and blocks access/viewing of adult users.

7) Require the Nebraska Department of Education to implement the following:

• BAN all electronic communication devices in schools other than equipment authorized for use by the local Board of Education. The ban would be in effect during regular school hours, generally 7:00a.m. to 3:30p.m. This restriction would be effective in all Nebraska public schools K through 12. Schools are encouraged to implement a protocol that allows students to call or text an authorized individual, i.e. family members, parent, guardian, in case of emergency.
• The Nebraska Department of Education will manage and administer, either internally or via a third-party, the content included in the Digital Online Resistance Education program (D.O.R.E.). This program, modeled after the highly successful D.A.R.E. program for drug and alcohol abuse, focuses on mitigating digital crime by teaching students about online exploitation and the consequences of engaging in such activity. This program is recommended for students in the 7th and 8th grades. See the D.O.R.E. Program Summary for more information posted as an update to this petition.

Required Technology.

In order to implement TPA, two aspects of technology need to be in place prior to applying the restrictions of online usage. There must be an ID-Age Verification protocol by device and a method of filtering websites, and search results on browsers and within app stores.

1) Filter technology must be able to:

• restrict minor users from all banned website/apps
  
  • filter must be either a third-party list of adult-themed websites/apps or allow administrator create their own list.
  • any dynamic list of websites/apps used by the filter needs to be editable by an administrator or any authorized user.
• apply "SafeSearch"-type restrictions to web search results.
• scrub all banned apps from search results within an app store.
• allow adult users to apply the same restrictions even when logged in as a verified adult.

2) ID- Age Verification must be able to:

• employ rock solid age authentication. Since this is the most important technological requirement, the authentication method should be regarded as fool-proof as possible.
• allow adults (parents/guardians) to turn verification on/off. This feature would be necessary in cases where the device changes owners.
• allow adults (parents/guardians) to enter age verification data for the minor, who should be the principle user of the device.
• for access to social media websites/apps, the ID-Age Verification method must adhere to the following restrictions by age category:
  • 0 to 14 years old - complete BAN
  • 15 to 17 years old - content filtered w/parental (guardian) consent
  • 18 years old and over - all access

Restricted Content.

All adult-themed websites and apps should be flagged as restricted content for minor users (i.e. anyone age under 18 years old). In addition to adult-themed sites, the restricted sites should be expanded to include any sites that include the following content:

• Dating
• Pornography
• Violence
• Substance Abuse
• Profanity
• Animal harm
• Suicide
• Self-harm
• Sexuality
• Grooming
• Alcohol Abuse
• Gun Violence
• War
• Any other adult sites

None of the above content or of similar themes may be displayed in any of the forms listed below:

• Live action
• 3D art
• comic
• cartoon
• any other type of animation
• manga
• hentai
• deepfake
• CGI/AI-created content
• text, i.e. fictional stories

D.O.R.E. Program.

The D.O.R.E. Program (Digital Online Resistance Education) is a program that will be designed to be administered to 7th and 8th grade students and will focus on educating and preventing digital crime. The curriculum discusses primary digital crimes committed, healthy and unhealthy digital content, and the dangers inherent on digital platforms. Parental (guardian) consent will be required to participate in the program.