Comments on Recently Proposed California State Legislature Bill AB 1138, the Parent’s Accountability and Child Protection Act
BOCA RATON, FL, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE ‒ Grom Social Enterprises (OTCQB: GRMM) ("Grom" or the "Company"), a social media platform and original content provider for children under the age of 13, today provided new user engagement data for the August 1-31 period and commented on the recently announced California State Legislature Bill AB 1138, the Parent’s Accountability and Child Protection Act. The bill would require a business that operates a social media website or application, beginning July 1, 2021, to obtain verifiable parental consent for California-based children that the business “actually knows” are under 13 years of age.
Company User Engagement Data include the following:
- For the August 1-31 period, Grom Social new user growth increased 127% over the previous 30-day period.
- For the August 1-31 period, Grom Social 30-day user engagement increased 208.8% over the previous 30-day period.
- Grom App sees a 70% increase in user growth since pandemic (March through August period).
- Grom Social reaches 20 million aggregate users – 11 million child users and 9 million parent users on all platforms since inception. in 2013.
Grom Social focuses on delivering content to children under the age of 13 years of age in a safe, secure Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) compliant platform that can be monitored by parents or guardians. The company delivers its exclusive short form content (1400 hrs.) through mobile and desktop environments that entertain children, allowing kids to interact with their peers while educating how to be good digital citizens, all within a kidSAFE+ COPPA compliant platform. By offering our proprietary digital citizenship course, parental monitoring via our safe parenting app Mama Bear, content filtering, and live monitoring 24/7, the Grom Social platform offers a distinct competitive advantage in today’s kids’ market. The app offers features that are similar to Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube in a safe child-friendly environment.
The Company is also reporting that on September 8, 2020, the California State Legislature passed bill AB 1138, the Parent’s Accountability and Child Protection Act, and has since been presented to the California Governor for signature. If signed into law by the Governor, the bill would require “On and after July 1, 2021, a person or business that conducts business in California, and that operates a social media website or application, shall not allow a person who the business actually knows is under 13 years of age to create an account with the website or application unless the website or application obtains the consent of the person’s parent or guardian before creating the account using a method that includes reasonable measures to ensure that the person who is giving their consent is the parent or legal guardian of the person under 13 years of age. A business that willfully disregards the consumer’s age is deemed to have actual knowledge of the consumer’s age.”
For additional information about AB 1138, please click on the following link:
(http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1138)
Darren Marks, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Grom, commented, “Increased scrutiny of social media by Congress and governmental regulators continue to make parents more aware of the dangers surrounding social media use by their kids. Violations and fines against Facebook/Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have led parents to seek safer alternatives, and Grom is becoming the beneficiary and is evidenced by our recent user growth. Marks added, “The recent California law is an attempt to put some teeth into legislation already banning children under the age of 13 from using these sites without parental consent. We believe the sites have millions of underage users but have been able to skirt the issue by claiming that the user has to be 13 years old or above. There is nothing stopping a 12-year-old from lying about his age and saying he is 16. The new law is trying to put the onus on the company by telling them if they have “absolute knowledge” the user is under 13 they need parental permission. Frankly, we don’t believe this new California law, while well-intentioned, is the answer. What does work for parents is Grom Social, a kid’s platform that goes beyond COPPA requirements, requiring all of its users to have parental consent, even those 13 of age and above.”
About Grom Social Enterprises, Inc.
Grom Social Enterprises, Inc., is a leading social media platform and original content provider of entertainment for children under 13 years of age; providing safe and secure digital environments for kids that can be monitored by their parents or guardians. The Company has several operating subsidiaries, including Grom Social, which delivers its content through mobile and desktop environments (web portal and apps) that entertain children, let them interact with friends, access relevant news, and play proprietary games while teaching them about being a good digital citizen. The Company owns and operates Top Draw Animation, Inc., which produces award-winning animation content for some of the largest international media companies in the world. Grom Social Enterprises also includes Grom Educational Services, which has provided web filtering services for K-12 schools, government, and private businesses. For more information, please visit www.gromsocial.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues and any payment of dividends on our common stock, statements related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods and the other risks set forth in Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. Among other matters, the Company may not be able to sustain growth or achieve profitability based upon many factors including, but not limited to general stock market conditions. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in the expansion of our existing and new service lines, noting there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long term. Additional service offerings may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s) based upon the various geopolitical locations where we will be providing services, the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein. Stockholders and potential investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this report are reasonable, we cannot assure stockholders and potential investors that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, a change in events, conditions, circumstances or assumptions underlying such statements, or otherwise.
Contact:
INVESTOR RELATIONS
(561) 287-5776
GROM Social Investor Relations
TraDigital IR
Kevin McGrath
+1-646-418-7002
kevin@tradigitalir.com
MJ Clyburn
+1-917-327-6847
clyburn@tradigitalir.com