Committee advances update to Louisiana Products Liability Act to cover digital products
Summary
HB 102, carried by Representative Schlegel, would extend the Louisiana Products Liability Act to digital products; the committee reported the bill favorably with no debate recorded.
Representative Schlegel told the committee HB 102 updates the Louisiana Products Liability Act (LPLA) to include digital products, aligning civil-safety rules with prior tax law that recognized digital products as taxable. "Every product made and sold in Louisiana is already covered by the LPLA, and companies doing business here have a duty not to design or manufacture unreasonably dangerous products," Schlegel said.
Schlegel explained the bill would hold designers and manufacturers of digital products to the same safety standards as physical products. She cited a Wall Street Journal report about a chatbot design that could facilitate sexually explicit conversations with minors as an example of a digital design that raises safety concerns.
The committee had no questions and, on a motion to report favorable by Representative Wobble, the committee reported HB 102 favorably with no recorded opposition.
Votes at a glance: HB 102 reported favorably by the committee.
