Texas lawmakers are poised to ban minors from social media

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The Texas Legislature is poised to impose sweeping restrictions on how minors use social media, from banning them from signing up for accounts and requiring parental consent to download applications, to placing warning labels about their dangers.

House Bill 186, filed by Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, has already passed with bipartisan support in the House, and a Senate panel has indicated its support as well. The proposal, the most far-reaching of the bills lawmakers have filed to address online dangers this session, would prohibit minors from creating accounts on social media sites, such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and more, and require users to verify their ages. Companies would have to comply with the ban by April 2026.

“Like so many parents across our state, I've watched my children grow up in a world that feels less and less safe, not because of where they go physically, but because of where they go online, in spaces that my wife and I can not possibly monitor at all times,” said Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, co-sponsor of the bill, during a State Affairs Committee hearing last week.

The bill would also allow parents to request the deletion of their child’s social media account, and a company must comply within 10 days.

Under this bill, any website that allows users to curate and create content is considered a social media website and cut off from minors. News and sports websites will be safe.

As of June 2024, 10 states, including Texas, have passed laws restricting children’s access to social media, according to the Age Verification Providers Association.

However, a ban on social media for Texans under 18 would be the strictest regulation of the social media industry. Currently, Florida is the only other state with a ban on social media, but it’s only for minors under 14, and they are working to extend the ban to those under 16.

Last week, lawmakers sent Senate Bill 2420, by Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk, establishing age verification requirements and mandating parental consent before a minor is allowed to download or make purchases within software applications. Lawmakers are also considering House Bill 499, by Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, which would require social media platforms to have a warning label about the association between a minor’s social media usage and significant mental health issues.

“We have the ability and the power to act today. With House Bill 186, we confront the evil before us and boldly say, ‘You cannot have our children,’” Hinojosa said in an emotional address to lawmakers.

Teen athletes

Last week, senators in the State Affairs Committee heard from many teenagers who told them that while their hearts might be in the right place, an outright social media ban for anyone under 18 is not the answer. Many suggested lowering the age limit to 16 instead.

“The harmful content that young people are exposed to online does not disappear when they turn 18,” said Morgan McGuire, a 17-year-old Texas resident and TikToker with over a million followers. “The bill throws young adults into a digital world at a time when they are living on their own for the first time, without the support systems that they had as minors, which can have serious harm on mental health.”

Teenagers pointed out to lawmakers that most of their lives and careers are intertwined with social media, whether it’s the 17-year-old TikToker making makeup videos or the five-star athlete posting highlight videos on Twitter and YouTube in hopes that coaches see them.

“It will be putting Texas high school student athletes at a disadvantage for several reasons, including getting information on programs, connecting with coaches, and competitiveness,” said William Weed, a Texas teenage athlete, to lawmakers. “Colleges are not only looking at athletic skill and performance, but also an athlete's brand and social media presence in today’s age of Name Image and Likeness rights.”

However, lawmakers see this digital world as not an asset but a threat.

“If this were an ideal world, we could do what you guys are saying. But it’s obvious that social media platforms are doing exactly what my fear is. And we have countless research stories of peers your age, committing suicide and being bullied,” said Hinojosa.

Studies show that 95% of youth aged 13 to 17 report using social media, with more than a third stating they use social media “almost constantly.”

Nearly 40% of children aged 8 to 12 use social media, despite most platforms requiring a minimum age of 13 to sign up, according to a study by the U.S. Surgeon General.

Two years ago, the American Federation of Teachers and the American Psychological Association, among other national organizations, called out social media platforms for undermining classroom learning, increasing costs for school systems, and being a “root cause” of the nationwide youth mental health crisis.

Paxton pointed out that all these bills avoid regulating online gaming, a space where many negative interactions can happen, and questioned why this wasn’t being addressed in the social media ban. Hinojosa responded that social media is just a starting point.

“We’re making something new,” he said.

First Amendment pushback

This isn’t the first time Texas has attempted to rein in social media, but each attempt has ended in a court debate.

“House Bill 186 conflicts with Texas contract law and undermines teens’ right to access information, express themselves, and participate in the digital economy,” said Megan Stokes, state policy director of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, in a news release. “A 14-year-old can legally work in retail or food service in Texas, but this bill would prevent them from even having a social media account.”

Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 18 into law in 2023, known as the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act. The SCOPE Act requires certain social media platforms to provide minors with certain data protections, prevent minors from accessing harmful content, and give parents tools to manage their child’s use of the service.

It also required school districts to obtain parental consent for most software and social media applications used in the classroom and look for internet alternatives for instruction.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has already sued TikTok twice under this law, accusing the company of violating deceptive trade law by downplaying its addictiveness and exposing children to explicit material.

The suit argues that TikTok, a short-form video app, violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by listing itself on app stores as appropriate for children and not effectively enforcing its community guidelines. The Apple App Store lists TikTok as rated for those 12 and older, while the Microsoft and Google Play Stores list the app as appropriate for users 13 and older.

TikTok has denied these allegations, and the issue has been playing out in court since last year, with various student groups and internet providers suing Paxton for violating First Amendment rights.

Opponents of this new batch of social media bills told lawmakers the same thing would happen again.

“The way this bill is currently written, it would end up restricting the First Amendment rights of minors,” Stokes told lawmakers Thursday. “Many Texas teens rely on these online platforms to connect with their peers, to share their interests, to find support for personal or academic growth, and this will be taken from them.”

Disclosure: Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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