Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
Wednesday, a group of four senators introduced a bipartisan bill that would, if passed, permanently ban children from accessing social media and add new restrictions for teens.
Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) have joined in support of the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, which they say is necessary given the harmful effects social media platforms are having on young people.
“Just as parents safeguard their kids from threats in the real world, they need the opportunity to protect their children online,” Cotton tweeted. “Our bill will put parents back in control of what their kids experience online.”
Just as parents safeguard their kids from threats in the real world, they need the opportunity to protect their children online. Our bill will put parents back in control of what their kids experience online. https://t.co/NlCkGesYMt
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) April 26, 2023
The substance of the bill would create a vastly different social media landscape in the United States.
Children under 13 would be prohibited from using social media, which is not a major change given that most Western-based social media platforms already require users to be older than 12 in order to register for an account.
However, the bill would also require parents to grant permission for their children who are ages 13-17 to use any platform, which would be novel.
Additionally, social media platforms would be prohibited from using algorithms to send content recommendations to minor users.
“The growing evidence is clear: social media is making kids more depressed and wreaking havoc on their mental health,” Schatz said in a statement.
While kids are suffering, social media companies are profiting. This needs to stop. Our bill will help us stop the growing social media health crisis among kids by setting a minimum age and preventing companies from using algorithms to automatically feed them addictive content based on their personal information.
KEEPING KIDS OFF SOCIAL MEDIA
A natural critique is that children might still find a way to gain access to platforms. According to a 2021 Mott poll, about half of children ages 10-12 and 33% of children ages 7-9 are already active users of social media.
The bill’s authors say they have addressed this by including language that would “require social media companies to undertake rigorous age verification measures based on the latest technology, while prohibiting companies from using age verification information for any other purpose.”
The bill would also create a government-owned age-verification system and would grant the FCC and state attorneys general the authority to enforce the new law.
CENSORSHIP ISSUES
Wired.com reports that Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith has emerged as an early critic of the measure. She believes that the bill would open the door for political figures to censor certain content.
“We kind of went through this when Tipper Gore was trying to ban music for some people,” Wired quoted Smith as saying.
Smith was referring to an episode in the 1980s when Gore and her Parents Music Resource Center attempted to exert control over specific popular songs which the group found objectionable and wished to prevent minors from consuming.
The effort led to the creation of the “parental advisory” stickers that have become ubiquitous on albums, CDs, and cassette tapes that featured profanity or other adult themes.
THE DARK RABBIT HOLES
Murphy told Wired that the “bill is completely content neutral. All it says is that you cannot build a purposefully addictive program that leads especially vulnerable children down deep, deep dark rabbit holes.”
In a statement released in conjunction with his co-authors, Murphy reiterated that social media was driving children toward dark and sadistic places.
“The alarm bells about social media’s devastating impact on kids have been sounding for a long time,’ Murphy said, “and yet time and time again, these companies have proven they care more about profit than preventing the well-documented harm they cause.”
In particular, these algorithms are sending many down dangerous online rabbit holes, with little chance for parents to know what their kids are seeing online. None of this is out of Congress’s control, and this bipartisan legislation would take important steps to protect kids and hold social media companies accountable.
Social media regulation, especially that affecting children’s access to platforms, is one of the areas in Washington around which Republicans and Democrats might rally. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has received solid support from both parties since she began pushing for tighter regulations.
The data on social media addiction among children is not encouraging. According to data compiled by the Cleveland Clinic, children who use social media can show stunted interpersonal skills, experience intense agitation (some even develop a nervous tic), and battle low self-esteem.