A Massachusetts state lawmaker wants parental consent to be a requirement by law before children under 16 can join online marketing campaigns.
Rep. Mike Festa (D-Melrose) said the purpose of his bill was to “protect children from exploitation” by youth marketers in cyberspace.
In an era when an unprecedented number of children are being recruited by marketers to participate in online advertising campaigns, we need to protect our youth from unwanted solicitations and ensure that marketing messages are age-appropriate," said Festa, vice chairman of the Massachusetts lower house’s Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. "Doing so should require parental approval of all marketing practices and materials whenever children are employed by marketers."
Festa has two potent co-sponsors for his bill: House Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Chairman Vincent Pedone (D-Worcester) and Committee on Children and Families Chair Shirley Owens-Hicks (D-Mattapan).
Festa told reporters he got the idea for the bill after reading a December story in The New York Times about the ways marketing companies support allegedly deceptive practices among “agents, including minors” who are invited to participate–as volunteers or as hired workers–in those campaigns.
