Soon, using social media in Texas may be banned until you’re 18 years old.
State Representative Jared Patterson (R) filed legislation this week to ban children under 18 from using social media platforms in an attempt to curb the negative side effects plaguing young children using the platforms such as depression and anxiety.
Defending his proposal, Patterson listed similarities between social media use to that of smoking cigarettes. Patterson stated that Americans once believed smoking was harmless when, in fact, it causes severe damage and increases the likelihood of developing lung cancer.
According to KDFW-TV, Patterson believes social media is negatively impacting children and said, “Once thought to be perfectly safe for users, social media access to minors has led to remarkable rises in self-harm, suicide, and mental health issues.”
In a press release, Patterson associated social media with “the pre-1964 cigarette” and said, “The Texas legislature must act this session to protect children because, thus far, the social media platforms have failed to do so. HB S76 is a solution to this crisis.”
To follow up on @GovAbbott’s release today, I have filed HB 896 – making good on a promise earlier this year – to protect children from the harms of social media. Release below: https://t.co/KS2iRKbVhh pic.twitter.com/aKyARZFZ0h
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) December 7, 2022
Greg Sindelar, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, praised Patterson and said that the problems created by social media- especially to minors, are “demonstrable not just in the internal research from the very social media companies that create these addictive products, but in the skyrocketing depression, anxiety, and even suicide rates we are seeing afflict children.”
Sindelar continued to say, “We are tremendously grateful for Rep. Jared Patterson’s leadership on keeping this precious population safe, and [the] TPPF is fully supportive of prohibiting social media access to minors to prevent the perpetual harms of social media from devastating the next generation of Texans.”
If approved and signed into law, social media platforms would be required to verify the age of their users by photo identification. It would also provide parents with legal avenues to request the removal of an account illegally created by their underage children.
