Deploys a chatbot, in Virginia

Va. Code 19.2-62, 19.2-69 · Read the law's page

• Do not intentionally intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication, or have someone else intercept one, unless you are a party to it or one of its parties has given prior consent; one party's consent is enough.
• Do not intentionally disclose or use the contents of a wire, electronic or oral communication you know, or have reason to know, was obtained through interception.
• An electronic communication made through a system configured so that it is readily accessible to the general public may be intercepted without consent, and telephone equipment furnished by a provider, or by the subscriber for connection to the service, and used in the ordinary course of the subscriber's or user's business is not an intercepting device.
• If you provide an electronic communication service to the public, do not intentionally divulge the contents of a communication in transmission on your service to anyone other than an addressee, an intended recipient, or their agent, except with the lawful consent of the originator or an addressee or intended recipient, to a person forwarding it to its destination, as the provider-employee exception or section 19.2-67 allows, or, for contents inadvertently obtained that appear to pertain to a crime, to a law-enforcement agency.

Va. HB 635 (2026 Regular Session) — referred to JCOTS February 2026

• This measure is proposed and binds nobody yet; what follows is what it would require if it is enacted in this form.
• Disclose to users that they are not interacting with a human.
• Do not allow chatbot interactions that encourage minors toward self-harm or violence.
• Provide mental-health redirects.
• Do not train the chatbot on a minor's input without parental consent.
• Maintain a public catalog of adverse incidents.
• Report on adverse incidents semiannually.