Britt: Social media bill would protect kids

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt joined three Senate colleagues Wednesday to bring bipartisan “common sense” legislation to the floor.

Britt (R-Montgomery) and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced the “Protecting Kids on Social Media Act.”

The bill sets a minimum age of 13 to use social media apps and would require parental consent for 13- through 17-year-olds. It would also prohibit social media companies from using algorithms to feed content to users under 18 years old.

According to Britt, the legislation is necessary to counter what she calls a “deteriorating culture of violence.”

“As a mom, nothing is more important to me than preserving the next generation’s opportunity to live the American Dream,” she said. “Unfortunately, that Dream is turning into a nightmare for families across our country. This bill is a bold, critical step to protect our kids, secure their future, and empower parents.

“There is no doubt that our country is facing a growing mental health crisis and a deteriorating culture of violence. Children and teenagers across our nation are dying, families are being devastated, and our society is withering. The only beneficiaries of the status quo are social media companies’ bottom lines and the foreign adversaries cheering them on. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to enact the commonsense, age-appropriate solutions needed to tackle this generational challenge.”

The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act 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
• Prohibit children under the age of 13 from using social media, consistent with the current practices of major social media companies
• Prohibit social media companies from recommending content using algorithms to users under the age of 18
• Require a guardian’s permission for users under 18 to create an account
• Create a pilot project for a government-provided age verification system that platforms can choose to use
• Provide the FTC and state attorneys general authority to enforce the provisions of the bill

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 57% of high school girls and 29% of high school boys felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. The CDC also found that 1 in 3 high school girls seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year. In some specific cases, social media use has been directly tied to teenage suicides.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.