STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 758-26
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2026
RE: H.B. No. 1782
H.D. 2
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2026
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 1782, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Office of Wellness and Resilience; Imua Alliance; Public Citizen; Hawaiʻi Psychological Association; Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Young People's Alliance; Transparency Coalition; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; Common Sense Media; Lou's Quality Home Health Care Services, LLC; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Department of the Attorney General; and TechNet.
Your Committee finds that artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots do not create harm in a vacuum; they amplify pre-existing vulnerabilities. The American Psychological Association's November 2025 health advisory warns that these technologies "have engaged in unsafe interactions with vulnerable populations, such as children or those with already established history of mental health issues, encouraging self-harm (including suicide), substance use, eating disorders, aggressive behavior, and delusional thinking." This measure establishes safeguards, protections, oversight, and penalties for interactions between minors and conversational AI services.
Your Committee notes that, as this measure progresses through the legislative process, an effective date of July 1, 2027 should be considered.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Moving the provisions of this measure to chapter 481B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which would subject its provisions to the laws governing unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce;
(2) Specifying that the disclosure is required when a provider of a conversational AI service or AI companion system knows or has reasonable certainty that a user is a minor;
(3) Requiring providers of conversational AI services or AI companion systems to institute reasonable measures to prevent the services or systems from making any reasonable representation or statement that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the person is interacting with a human being where the user is seeking or receiving crisis intervention for self-harm or suicide and inserting a definition for "crisis intervention"; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, should it deliberate on this measure, to examine whether the speech made by an artificial intelligence companion system or a conversational artificial intelligence service would be protected by the First Amendment, whether at the corporate level or otherwise, and, consequently, whether the speech generated by the artificial intelligence companion system or conversational artificial intelligence service will subject the corporations to liability.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1782, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1782, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,
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____________________________ SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair |
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