New bipartisan bill would support parental consent for kids to use social media

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – A group of Senators from both parties say their new bill protects kids from the harms of social media.

“Our bill is a common sense, bipartisan approach to help to stop this suffering,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said.

“Enough is enough. The data speaks for itself,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said.

The legislation would ban social media accounts for anyone under the age of 13 on social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, and Snapchat.

“Social media companies have had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing…they have failed to deliver,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said.

Murphy says the bill also requires parental permission from users under the age of 18.

“This bill gives parents the ability to decide, with their children, when is the right time to step into this world,” Murphy said.

To enforce these requirements, the bill would create a new government-run age verification system.

“This is simply applying the age-old wisdom of mankind from the real world to the digital world,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said.

Cotton says this approach is necessary to keep kids safe in a digital world.

“They’re too young to see a rated-r movie, they’re too young to be exposed to much of the content on social media,” Cotton said.

Some tech groups, like NetChoice, oppose the bill, saying Congress needs to find solutions that don’t infringe “constitutionally-protected rights” or violate privacy.