ST. PAUL — Concerned about the effects of social media on children, some Minnesota lawmakers want to enact new restrictions they say would protect kids under age 16.
At an April 28 meeting of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blaine, said most social media platforms require a minimum user age of 13, but the age requirement is rarely enforced.
Kreun’s bill would mandate verifiable parental consent when a minor creates a social media account and require the highest data privacy settings. It would also restrict targeted, paid advertisements and addictive interface features such as continuously loading content, push notifications and autoplay.
“We’re here today because we’re witnessing a public health crisis that operates not in our streets, but in the pockets of our children,” Kreun said.
He said studies have shown social media is addictive and causes depression and anxiety in many children.
The legislation applies only to social media companies that earned at least $1 billion in advertising revenues worldwide in one or more of the preceding three years. That currently covers the major social media companies, including Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram; ByteDance, which owns TikTok; Alphabet, which owns YouTube; and X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kreun told the committee that the bill does not ban social media for minors, but enforces safety standards to keep children safe.
The bill received a mix of praise and criticism from people who testified, including concerned parents, tech companies and other organizations.
Mollie Snyder, a high school student, testified in support of the bill, saying she saw the effects social media had on her younger sister.
“At 16, I can tell when something is an advertisement, and I will scroll,” Snyder said. “But an insecure 13-year-old who doesn’t understand why boys like her friends and not her? She’ll listen. She’ll stop eating and spend $200 on skincare and makeup to make her pretty because the advertisement said so.”
Others who testified expressed concern about a heightened level of surveillance on children's accounts if social media companies use account data to determine whether the device is owned by a child.
Under the bill, if an account owner has used an app for more than 25 hours in six months, social media platforms are allowed to look more closely at the account data. If the platform can prove with 80% certainty that the child is under 16, the account will be terminated.
Julie Covert, a policy student at the University of Minnesota, said she supports protecting children but had concerns about the bill.
“The intent of this bill is incredibly important, but the current structure introduces privacy risks, unequal access and incentives that may push behavior in the wrong direction,” Covert said.
Ninia Linero, Midwest executive at TechNet, a network of technology companies, said the bill is a step in the right direction but raises privacy and security issues.
“We remain concerned that the bill, as drafted, creates a framework that is both unworkable in practice and risks unintended consequences for the very children it aims to protect,” Linero said.
Kreun said the social media platforms are already collecting data and don’t seem concerned about the consequences.
“We shouldn’t allow unregulated algorithms to dictate the mental health of an entire generation,” Kreun said.
The committee approved the bill. Its next stop is the Senate Rules Committee.
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