AUSTIN, Texas — New State laws are set to go into effect across Texas. The five bills will cover a range of issues, from cracking down on insulin manufacturers over transparency to limiting social media access for children.
Before state lawmakers left Austin they passed a bill nicknamed the The Scope Act which stands for "securing children online though parental empowerment".
Now social media sites will require a parent or guardians consent before kids or teens can create accounts.
The site must give parents opportunities to supervise their children.
However, University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus questions the logistics.
"The social media sites themselves, according to law, are the ones that have to police this. That might mean they have to have a third party do it, or might have to change internally how they have people onboard those particular websites," said Rottinghaus.
Social media expert Ernesto Verdugo believes the bill may not be the right answer when it comes to online safety.
The moment that the kid is not in front of you one way or another, they are going to figure out how to access it. I think the best thing to do is to have a clear and open conversation with kids," said Verdugo.
A federal judge has blocked the parts of the law that requiring filtering and blocking of content.
Other new laws that are being passed is House Bill 1841 which clearly defined dating violence as someone in a dating relationship who causes physical harm, makes someone fear for their safety, or suffers emotional abuse.
As well as Senate Bill 241 which focuses on putting tighter restrictions on insulin companies.
They now must submit a written notice disclosing why a generic option is not available.
Finally the last bill which won't take effect until January 1 that gets rid of vehicle inspections for most Texans.