Social media limits
Further study must produce bill that protect kids from online ills
There’s widespread, bipartisan support among Virginia’s leaders for passing laws to address the dangers social media poses to children and young teenagers. So far, however, that consensus has yet to manifest in a measure capable of passing the General Assembly.
Lawmakers rejected every proposal this season, save one that was assigned to a joint legislative committee for further study. Virginians are counting on the General Assembly to act, and should expect a more productive effort next year.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has made protecting children younger than 18 a major talking point, asking the General Assembly to pass a bill giving parents more power to protect their children and prohibiting tech companies from children’s data.
Legislators of both parties responded, introducing several bills they hoped would do the job.
One introduced by Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, seemed to have the best chance of advancing this year. It was written with a narrower, more focused approach than some of the other legislation.
After passing the Senate unanimously, however, the bill screeched to a halt in a House of Delegates subcommittee that voted 9-1 to send it to the legislature’s Joint Commission on Technology and Science
for more study.
According to the Virginia Mercury, that action came after representatives of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and other tech companies said that they would not be able to comply with the bill because it was too vague.
VanValkenburg argued that his bill did not try to impose broad new limits on the access that children and teens have to social media. It did not attempt to control what content they could see or what accounts they could follow.
Instead, the proposal would prohibit social media companies from using “addictive” feeds designed by computer algorithms to hook kids into endlessly scrolling through videos and other content on social media feeds. It would, however, have allowed minors to see content from sources and friends they have “expressly and unambiguously requested.”
As it turned out, the simplicity of the bill was what the social media companies criticized. Meta and other companies argued, in effect, that the term “unambiguously” was too ambiguous and that it would be difficult to comply with the bill.
Tech company representatives argued that more comprehensive federal legislation is what’s needed to address the problem.
That’s hard to argue, though tech companies will inevitably find reasons to object to whatever Congress cobbles together. The problem of social media’s effects on kids is nationwide, so the federal government should take the lead in enacting effective regulations.
But with Washington struggling to keep even the government running, it would be a mistake to wait for that to happen.
The damage that social media can do to children’s and teenagers’ physical and mental health is well documented and ever present. Overuse of social media takes a toll on kids’ schoolwork, exercise, in-person relationships and ability to sleep. Those who spend too much time on social media tend to suffer from anxiety, loneliness, eating disorders, depression and, in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts. Cyberbullying is rampant.
Children can too easily stumble onto inappropriate content or even make contact with online predators. They may be tempted to try “viral” fads that can land them in the hospital or in trouble with the law. They may naively post damaging photos or information about themselves that can cause problems later in life, because once it’s out there, nothing ever really disappears from the internet.
The list of dangers goes on. The need for regulation that works is urgent.
Now that this year’s attempts to address the problem in Virginia failed, lawmakers should use this time to study the problem in depth and creatively, doing what it takes to introduce legislation in 2025 that is specific and effective.
If the federal government takes broader action eventually, well and good. In the meantime, Virginia should do what it can to protect our children.