THE PANDORA’S BOX OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media has become almost like a Pandora’s box, platforms that once open contain much potential evil and are impossible to close.

But Tennessee legislators believe they have a solution at least for vulnerable minors — parental consent.

The state Senate approved a bill Monday that would require parental consent for children to use social media. It had been passed previously by the state House, but a late change in the Senate bill means the House must vote again before the measure goes to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for his signature.

Surprisingly, the legislative approval was overwhelmingly bipartisan, with the House approving it 88-2 (with five present and not voting) and the Senate passing it 30-1 (with one present and not voting). All members of the Hamilton County delegation with the exception of state Rep. Yusuf Hakeem voted for the measure. Hakeem was not present for the vote.

Perhaps, very few lawmakers want to be seen as opposing legislation that would be somewhat protective for minors.

Amendments to the “Protecting Children from Social Media Act” clarify that a minor is defined as an unemancipated individual under 18 who is a resident of the state and that a social media platform does not include the likes of cloud storage, peer-to-peer payment platforms, online technical support, online shopping services, career development opportunities, sales sites, or gaming or educational entertainment. The effective date for the legislation would be Jan. 1, 2025.

We certainly support the need for parental consent for minors to use social media, but it’s a shame it’s something that has to be enshrined in law. It would be better if all parents took such an interest in what their children did that they would have guardrails in place for social media use.

However, our concerns going forward are several: 1. Once parental consent is given, will parents back away and just trust that their children are using social media in an acceptable way, or will they monitor their social media use? 2. Since social media companies already ban users under age 13 from signing up to their platforms, and many are able to evade that ban, how narrowly can the companies monitor their users in distinguishing between those who have parental consent and those who do not? 3. How successful can legislators be in urging social media companies to provide tools that parents can implement like — as mentioned in the bill summary — options to view privacy settings, set daily time restrictions or force mandatory breaks? 4. Will the measure wind up in court, as a similar version in Arkansas has?

And how difficult will the policing of such policies be? Well, consider that experts say up to 95% of minors ages 13 to 17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third of that group saying they use them “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.

Assuming the bill passes the House again, is signed by the governor and survives judicial scrutiny, potential violations will be up to the state attorney general. If he believes a social media company is engaged in, has engaged in, or is about to engage in an act or practice prohibited by the bill and that proceedings would be in the public interest, he may 1) conduct an investigation in the same manner as provided in existing law; and 2) bring an action in the same manner as provided in existing law; in any such action, the attorney general may recover the penalties and other relief authorized under existing law.

Similar laws have been passed in other states, though the implementation times have been so recent that there is little to no anecdotal evidence whether they are effective.

Utah was the first to pass such a law in 2023, but it’s effective date was March 1 of this year. Louisiana followed, with an effective date of July 1, 2024. Texas was the third to pass such legislation but the first to put it into practice on Sept. 1, 2023.

Last month, Florida passed a ban on such accounts for children under 14, regardless of parental consent, but allowed the use for teens ages 14 and 15 with consent. Georgia joined the parade during its just completed legislative session, with its implementation date July 1, 2025.

We suspect each state has felt the same ambivalence about such legislation as we feel — desirous of more protection for children but bewildered at the complexities and uncertainties of implementation.

To wit, we offer two statements — both true — uttered in the run-up to Georgia’s recently passed social media law.

“Every rose has a thorn, and that’s social media in this generation,” state Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtreee Corners, said. “It’s great for connectivity and activism, but it has reared its ugly head on mental health.”

However, said state Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Spring, “if we do pass this, we’ll be back fixing this next year, because there are too many issues with this bill.”

In any case, the Pandora’s box probably can’t be closed.