In a polarized Congress, a rare bipartisan accord is being forged to protect young people’s mental health with a slew of bills aimed at regulating technology companies.
Lawmakers’ growing efforts to target social media companies come alongside the U.S. surgeon general’s warnings of the platforms’ effect on the mental health of minors. In May, Dr. Vivek Murthy called for “immediate action” by tech companies and lawmakers to protect kids’ mental health after issuing a public health advisory highlighting the effects of social media use on the country’s youth.
In a report released in February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that teen girls were experiencing record high levels of violence, sadness and suicide risk, with nearly 3 in 5 feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. That represents a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade.
While addressing the growing mental health crisis in America − especially among youth − has become a priority in Washington, there’s not yet consensus on how to reign in social media companies. Bills that aim to hold tech companies accountable through content moderation and fines have gained more support than others looking to ban minors from using the platforms.
Lawmakers look to hold tech accountable
Lawmakers pushing to bar children from certain social media platforms entirely have faced some criticism.
“We do not think that bills that keep kids off of social media are necessarily realistic, and even more than that we think that ultimately those are basically putting the problem back at the feet of parents and young people,” Josh Golin, the executive director of the children’s safety group Fairplay, told USA TODAY.
“What we need is legislation that actually changes how these platforms interact with young people,” he added.
The Kids Online Safety Act, otherwise known as KOSA, a bipartisan effort reintroduced this year by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is one of two bills the children’s advocacy group supports.
The bill would provide “families with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against threats to children’s health and well-being online.” It would also require the platforms to “put the interests of children first,” according to a memo about the bill.
According to the text, under the bill:
- Social media platforms would be required to provide minors with options to protect their information; disable addictive product features, including rewards for time spent on the platform and media automatically playing, and opt-out of recommendations from algorithms.
- Parents would have access to new controls to help spot harmful behaviors, which includes a dedicated channel to report harmful content to the platform.
- Platforms will be required to perform an annual independent audit that will assess risks to minors, its compliance with the legislation and whether the platforms are taking steps to prevent harmful impacts, including sexual exploitation and abuse.
- Social media platforms would be responsible for preventing and mitigating harms and harmful content, such as violence and promotion of drugs and alcohol, to minors and face penalties if in violation.
Advocates, including Golin, have also rallied behind the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, also known as COPPA 2.0.
The bill aims to update current online data privacy rules to help combat the youth mental health crisis by outlawing practices that target minors through algorithms and toxic content, according to a May press release.
While the CDC found a stark increase in mental health challenges among teen girls, it also found that all teens reported increases, including in experiences of violence and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to data from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
COPPA 2.0 would build on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, or COPPA, by prohibiting tech companies from collecting information of users ages 13 to 16 without their consent, according to the bill.
The bill would also:
- Ban targeted advertising to minors.
- Require companies to allow users to eliminate personal information of a minor when able.
- Establish a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens,” which would limit the collection of personal information of teenagers.
An issue Congress can’t fix itself
Despite widespread support for congressional action, some parents and educators aren’t convinced it’ll be enough, including Chicago high school teacher Max Bean.
Exposure to harmful content and data privacy are not the main concerns for Bean. Instead, he’s worried about social media’s ability to supplant in-person interaction, and the consequences of less face-to-face contact.
“The problem here is a total change in how humans interact, and you know taking out the harmful content is not going to fix that. I think humans need to interact face to face,” Bean, 41, told USA TODAY, adding that along with legislation, there also needs to be a societal shift in how social media is used.
While the high school math and physics teacher is skeptical that efforts from Congress can make a difference, he does view action by Washington as the first step in addressing the harmful impacts of social media.
“I don’t think Congress on its own is gonna fix this problem. But I think that if Congress takes action, it encourages other people to do things, I think it’s a step,” said Bean.
Bean’s perspective is one that Kailan Carr, a 39-year-old mom of two from Bakersfield, California, also shares.
“I think that Congress has a place in this puzzle,” Carr told USA TODAY. “Congress, I do feel like needs to step in and hold these big tech companies accountable, but I also feel like it has to be as a society that we’re not placing so much emphasis on social media.”
