Technology

Student instruction; internet safety; certain topics. Requires the internet safety component that is integrated into each school division's instructional program as required by its acceptable internet use policy to include instruction on key modern digital safety topics, including online scams, misinformation, and content generated by artificial intelligence.

Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty. Prohibits electioneering communications containing synthetic media, as those terms are defined in the bill, from being published or broadcast without containing the following conspicuously displayed statement: "This message contains synthetic media that has been altered from its original source or artificially generated and may present conduct or speech that did not occur." The bill creates a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 for a violation of such prohibition and a Class 1 misdemeanor for a willful violation. The bill permits any registered voter who receives an electioneering communication in violation of this requirement to institute an action for preventative relief to prohibit the publication or dissemination of such electioneering communication, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction.

Virginia Lottery; powers of the Virginia Lottery Board; advertising restrictions; age verification. Directs the Virginia Lottery to study the feasibility of furthering responsible gaming as it relates to the lottery, casino gaming, and sports betting, and to develop an implementation plan to require all lottery terminals to possess proper age verification software to ensure that a consumer is 18 years of age or older. The Director of the Virginia Lottery shall report any findings to the Chairs of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology by October 1, 2026.

Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms and operators; interoperability interfaces. Requires social media platforms and operators, defined in the bill, to implement third-party interoperability interfaces to allow users to share social graph data, defined in the bill, and contextual data associated with artificial intelligence systems, defined in the bill, as the user designates. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.

Consumer Data Protection Act; prohibitions and duties relating to minors. Prohibits a controller of an online service, product, or feature from entering into certain agreements with a known minor, unless such controller obtains verified consent from the minor's parent as specified in the bill. The bill imposes certain duties on a controller of an online service, product, or feature related to advertising, algorithm use, and reasonable care toward known minors. The bill expands the consumer rights of a parent to minors and adds a provision allowing a parent to obtain a copy of the minor's data. Current law offers certain consumer rights to the parents of children younger than age 13. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.