Can Texas save kids from social media?
Many of us are familiar with that intoxicating rush of dopamine that comes from getting positive attention from our peers. Children feel it most. Around the age of 10, kids begin craving these “social rewards.” It’s a natural milestone, the beginning of a roughly 15-year period that psychiatrists believe is one of the most critical stages for human brain growth.
It also happens to be the same age that many children, thirsty for visibility and acceptance, begin exploring social media apps from TikTok to Instagram to Snapchat. While these platforms satisfy a child’s desire for social connection they can also distort vulnerable minds like a fun house mirror. The same regions of the brain that trigger addictions to drugs and alcohol become activated, leading to craving for friends or strangers to tap the thumbs up or heart icon. Teen struggles in decades past — facing school bullies, fear of missing out, not feeling attractive — are amplified and ever present, only a buzz or ping away.
We are only just beginning to fully understand the damage these apps can inflict on children as young as 8 years old.
Recent research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness in 2021 and one in three girls seriously considered attempting suicide. One in five girls had also been the target of electronic bullying. While other explanations for the increase in suicidal ideation and depression are possible — smartphone use in general, for instance — many psychiatrists and experts see a direct association with social media.
Statehouses across the country are attempting to respond to this burgeoning crisis, introducing and passing legislation that aims to protect teenagers from the developmental harm that comes with excessive internet use.
It’s an issue that should have us all concerned and united in finding a solution. The wellbeing of our children is beyond partisanship — it should be, at least.
In Texas, the recent approach to tech regulation is unfortunately linked to broader culture war politics. In 2021, the Legislature passed a law — currently being challenged in court — prohibiting large social media companies from banning users’ posts based on their political views, a result of the growing belief among many Republican lawmakers that major tech companies have an anti-conservative bias. Texas is one of 22 states that have instituted bans against the social media app TikTok, largely out of fear that it’s owned and operated by a Chinese company which could, in theory, wield our own user data against us.
None of these measures has addressed the harmful effects of youth being overexposed to digital platforms. State Rep. Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) is hoping to change that. Slawson recently introduced a bill, House Bill 18, which aims to protect minors from content that promotes self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and substance abuse.
Slawson told the editorial board that parents are powerless against social media platforms' proprietary algorithms, which are so opaque even many tech experts don't fully understand how they work.
“We want parents to be able to see, first and foremost, what’s being collected on our kids, and have the ability to opt out of that collection and to opt out of these algorithms as well,” Slawson said.
Slawson’s bill, which has broad bipartisan support in the House, is modeled in part after similar legislation signed into law in California last fall. The Texas bill would impose legal penalties if teenage users were exposed to bullying, harassment and sexual exploitation; “predatory, unfair, or deceptive marketing practices”; and ads for products or services illegal to minors such as drugs and alcohol. Any app or website that violates these conditions could be subject to a civil lawsuit brought by a parent or guardian.
The requirements would apply to any “digital service provider” that collects personal identifying information from teenage users and either targets or appeals to minors. The bill would also allow parents to request access to whatever data a provider has collected and stored from a user who is a minor, including browsing and search history as well as the user’s private correspondence, which includes texts and video chats. Providers would have to grant parents access to control a minor’s privacy settings, restrict ability to make purchases, and monitor the amount of time a minor spends using the platform.
To some this may sound like nanny state overreach, yet Slawson’s bill would also bring some much-needed transparency to tech companies that prefer to operate in the shadows, and would still pale in comparison to the more punitive approach adopted by the European Union, which bans targeted advertising aimed at children and also prohibits the algorithmic promotion of content that could be harmful for minors.
We urge Texas lawmakers to pass this bill and for the governor to sign it. Yet we also share the concern voiced by some civil liberties advocates that the bill could have unintended consequences, such as over-moderating content or collecting more information from younger users than necessary because of age verification requirements. Advocates have also noted that prescriptive parental controls could be harmful to kids vulnerable to abuse, particularly children who identify as LGBTQ. Given that the state attorney general has tried to use the power of his office to invade the privacy of transgender Texans, it's imperative that the final version of this legislation explicitly prohibits any sort of digital surveillance that prevents vulnerable youth from accessing critical resources such as support groups.
The ultimate goal of this legislation is not simply to prevent children from accessing particular digital platforms. There are benefits to using social media, from maintaining friendships to interacting with more diverse peer groups than a child might meet in person to providing safe spaces for self-discovery and expression. But the least lawmakers can do to encourage children to be responsible digital citizens is to ensure that the websites and apps they use are not vehicles for selfharm.
Bill would bring transparency from tech companies.