Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Children from Social Media Involves Alabama’s Katie Britt

Washinton D.C. –U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark. ), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i) as well as Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on the 26th of April introduced a bipartisan bill to protect children from the harmful effects of social media, and to enable families.

Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would establish the age at which children must be 13 to access social media applications and require parental consent from 13 to 17-year-olds. The bill will also stop the use of algorithms by social media firms to deliver content to users younger than 18.

“As mother there is nothing most important to me as safeguarding the opportunity for future generations to enjoy an American Dream. Unfortunately this Dream is becoming nightmares for families across the country. This bill is a daring and crucial step to safeguard our children, ensure their future and help parents become more empowered,” said Senator Britt. “There there is no doubt America is facing an increasing mental health crisis as well as an escalating the culture of violence. Teenagers and children across the nation are dying, families are devasted, and our society is dying. The only people who benefit from our current system are the social media’s bottom line and foreign enemies cheering them on. I am looking for the opportunity to work with colleagues from both sides to bring about the commonsense age-appropriate solutions required to address this issue of the generational age .”

“The growing evidence is evident that social media is causing children more depressed and creating chaos on their health. While children suffer the social media giants are making money. This must stop ,”said Senator Schatz. “Our bill will allow us to end the ever-growing social media-related health problem among children by establishing an age limit and prohibiting companies from employing algorithms to feed users addicting content based upon their personal data .”

“From sexual violence and bullying to sexually explicit and addictive content Social media companies expose teenagers and children to a variety of content that could harm their physical and emotional well-being. Like parents who protect their children from dangers from the outside, parents must have the ability to protect their children on the internet. By establishing an age limit of 13 and the requirement of parental consent up to age 18 — our bill puts parents in charge of the experiences their children have on the internet,” said Senator Cotton.

“As an adult parent of two children – one is a teen and the other who is about to become a teenager – I am witnessing in my own experience the harm that corporations that use social networks, who are 100 percent committed to luring our children to their screens have done the world. This is a fact isn’t something we should accept. Alarm bells regarding the devastating effects of social media on children have been ringing for years however, repeatedly the companies have shown they are more concerned with profit rather than preventing the countless harms they do. Particularly the current algorithmic environment, it is sending a lot of people down dangerous internet tunnels, and there is no possibility for parents to be aware of what their children are viewing on the internet. All of this is within the realm of the control of Congress This bipartisan bill will make important changes to safeguard children and hold companies that use social media responsible,” said Senator Murphy.

The United States is facing a mental health crisis, and there is no population more affected than teenagers. According to the Centers for Health Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 57 % from high school females and 28 percent for boys reported feeling constantly sad or depressed in 2021. The CDC also reported that 1 of 3 high school girls considered suicide during the last year. In a few specific instances the use of social media has been directly linked to suicides among teens.

With the obvious connection between the use of social media and mental health This issue demands urgent attention. Companies that operate on social media have been aware about this connection for years independent research has proved that the use of social media is the main cause of the epidemic of mental illness. Between 2011 and the year 2019 the prevalence of teenage depression doubled when social media grew in popularity. Between 2019 and 2021, overall use of screens among teens and teens (ages 8-12) rose by 17.7, with teens having screen time of five hours 33 mins per day and teenagers using screens for 8 forty-eight minutes. Studies show that teens with a daily usage of more than five hours each day using social media are two times more likely to experience depression. Studies have shown an unambiguous correlation between the use of social media and mental health issues, especially in youngsters. In light of this that has been uncovered, the U.S. Surgeon General has advised that 13 is not the right age to use social media for personal purposes.

The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act will:

• Make it mandatory for social media companies to take a stringent age verification process that are based on the most recent technology, and prohibiting businesses from using the information they collect on age verification for any other purpose.
• Stop children younger than of 13 from engaging in social media, which is consistent with the current policies of the major social media companies;
• Stop social media firms from recommending their content via algorithms to users who are not yet at 18 years old;
• You must have the permission of a parent or guardian for users younger than 18 to sign up for an account;
• Make a pilot for an age verification system provided by the government that platforms could decide to use;
• The bill grants the FTC as well as state attorneys general with authority to apply the provisions of the bill.