Important announcement: Please see the special notice at Hattiesburg_Memory:HB1126

Hattiesburg Memory:HB1126

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What is HB 1126?[edit]

HB 1126, also known as the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act, was signed by Governor Tate Reeves on April 30, 2024, and went into effect on July 1, 2024. The law requires websites that allows users to "create or post content that can be viewed by other users" to do things like:

  1. Store the ages of every user, even those 18 years old and older, in order to allow them to create an account
  2. Require parental consent before allowing anyone under the age of 18 to create an account

Read the text of the law here: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2024/pdf/history/HB/HB1126.xml

A federal court then issued a preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit by NetChoice (Netchoice, LLC v. Fitch). That injunction is no longer in effect, so we are required to follow the law.

What does it have to do with us?[edit]

The Hattiesburg Memory Wiki does not have the resources to collect age verification data ourselves nor to pay a service to do it for us. Instead, the Wiki will have to change the way it operates. Here's what this means:

  1. User account creation is be disabled
  2. Edits are only allowed from anonymous users. Every edit will require defeating a captcha.

What can you do?[edit]

If you disagree with this law you can contact your Mississippi state legislature representative.

MS Senate[edit]

MS House[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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