Indiana Governor Mike Braun Signs Bills to Protect Children Online

STATEWIDE–Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed two bills into law on Wednesday that he says will protect Hoosier kids from exploitation on social media and crack down on online predators.

There is House Enrolled Act 1408 which puts up new guardrails to protect Hoosier minors online and empower parents. The law requires covered social media platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent for accounts involving Indiana users under 16, prevents direct messages and search visibility for adolescent accounts, restricts algorithm-driven recommendations and certain addictive platform features, and empowers parents with stronger tools to monitor and limit their child’s use. These protections are enforceable by the Attorney General.

He also signed House Enrolled Act 1303 which strengthens Indiana’s response to child sexual exploitation and abuse by raising the penalty on child predators who exploit children with child sex abuse material, creating a new offense for distribution of child sex abuse material, and tightening offender registration requirements including for offenders coming from other jurisdictions.

“We are taking decisive action to empower parents and protect Hoosier children from online predators. These laws put stronger protections around children online, give parents more control, and strengthen Indiana’ s ability to crack down on predators and child exploitation. We are going to keep using every tool we have to protect kids, support families, and put predators who target children online behind bars,” said Braun.

Lawmakers have said throughout the legislative session that these actions were taken to honor the life of 17-year-old Hailey Buzbee. She was from Fishers. She disappeared in January and was later found dead in Ohio. Police have said that Tyler Thomas spoke to her online via Discord and played video games with Buzbee for more than a year.

Police say Thomas told them that he picked her up from her Fishers home and later led them to her remains. They also say he had illicit photos of Buzbee. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

“In your own households, don’t just assume that nothing like this is happening. Because I think that is where the starting point is. This is the beginning of trying to remediate it and we’re just getting started,” said Braun.

Last year, Braun said Indiana State Police arrested 499 people for crimes against children and rescued 126 children from ongoing abuse, while the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 29,635 cyber tips — a 38% increase over the prior year.

With nearly 7,000 tips already logged this year and the task force expanded by 50 officers to 520 across the state, Braun says he is mobilizing the Indiana State Police like never before to protect kids and put predators behind bars.