Amid an ongoing youth mental health crisis worsened by the use of widespread and unlimited social media use, U.S. Senator Katie Britt is continuing to take steps to protect America’s children from the growing issue.
On Tuesday, in her latest effort, Britt joined fellow Senator John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) in introducing the Stop the Scroll Act. The legislation would create a mental health warning label requirement for social media platforms.
The goal of the bill, according to Britt, is to “ensure all users, especially adolescents, are aware of the potential mental health risks posed by social media usage and are provided access to mental health resources.”
“Every child deserves the chance to live their own personal American Dream, but our nation’s youth mental health crisis is getting in the way for far too many,” said Britt. “With the Stop the Scroll Act, Senator Fetterman and I are following through on the Surgeon General’s call to create a warning label for social media platforms, but we’re going further by requiring the warning label to also point users to mental health resources.”
RELATED: Britt helps introduce legislation to shield children from harmful effects of social media
“Equipped with the knowledge of the dangers and empowered with the resources to address it, this simple solution will help parents and kids thrive.”
Britt has also introduced the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would prevent kids under the age of 13 from creating a social media account, prohibit the use of algorithms on all social media users that are under the age of 17, and require schools to block and filter social media on their WIFI networks if they receive federal funding.
Additionally, she brought forward the Youth Mental Health Research Act, which would create a national Youth Mental Health Research Initiative to guide long-term mental health care efforts and better target preventive interventions for those at risk of developing mental health challenges.
Britt cosponsored both the Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). She supports the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, which includes provisions from both COPPA and KOSA.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @AustenShipley.
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