This legislative season, eighteen states are working to create age verification legislation — laws that force pornography companies to verify online users’ age.
Age verification laws garner broad support because most people believe pornography shouldn’t be available to kids. The relative universality of porn’s inappropriate content makes age verification an easy bandwagon to jump on.
Age restrictions for social media, however, have proven a much harder undertaking.
Few doubt that social media is dangerous for kids, and many advocate parents keep children off social media until well into their teenage years. But people disagree whether legislation keeping kids off social media empowers parents or weakens them.
Both positions can be reasonable depending on the laws’ content. Each one restricts kids of different ages in different ways, allots different amounts of power to the state and to parents, and tasks social media companies with different legal responsibilities.
The variability of social media age restrictions makes it difficult for legislators and voters to agree on which bills truly help parents. Social media companies further muddy the waters with aggressive legal tactics. Internet trade association NetChoice, of which Meta, X, Snap Inc. and TikTok are members, has sued states requiring social media companies spend money and time enforcing their own age limits.
NetChoice has successfully stymied four social media age verification laws in three different states. A judge granted the organization’s request to temporarily stop the enforcement of laws in Arkansas and Ohio. Utah elected to repeal and replace its contested bills rather than going to court.
Below is a snapshot of states that have pursued social media age restrictions, and where their bills are now. The Daily Citizen hopes you and your family will carefully consider which kinds of laws would keep your children safe from the dangers of technology.
For more information on laws protecting parental rights in your state, contact your local Family Policy Council.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Requires children 16 years old and younger obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Requires companies disclose their privacy policies to parents.
- Prevents children 13 years old and younger from using social media.
- Requires 14- and 15-year-olds obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Creates age-verification requirement for technology.
- Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using “interactive computer services.”
- Requires social media companies to limit services to minors who do not obtain parental consent.
- Requires social media companies to prevent minors from stumbling on inappropriate or harmful content.
- Requires children 16-years-old and younger obtain parental consent to use social media.
- Creates an age verification requirement for pornography.
- Creates safeguards against pornography and social media in schools and on school equipment.
- Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Creates increased privacy protections for minors using social media.
- Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Prevents social media companies from encouraging minors to “access content which the social media company knows … subject one or more minors to harm.”
- Together formed the Utah Social Media Regulation Act.
- Required all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
- Required social media companies to increase privacy protections for minors on social media, curtail minors’ usage of social media at night and give parents access to minors’ social media accounts.
- Prevented social media companies “from using a practice, design, or feature … that the social media company knows” could cause minors to become addicted.
