The law regarding social media platforms may be established in Texas as the next state in the United States.
A Texas bill that would prohibit the use of social media by individuals under the age of 18 has recently passed the Senate committee and is scheduled for a vote in the Texas State Senate. The bill has approximately one week to ensure that it is approved by both the Senate and the governor before the conclusion of the state’s legislative session on June 2.
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The bill was first approved by the House committee earlier this year and subsequently enacted by the state’s House of Representatives. The measure, if enacted, would mandate that social media platforms verify the age of individuals who create an account, similar to the legislation that Texas passed mandating that websites hosting pornography implement an age verification system. In addition, Texas’ social media ban suggests that parents be permitted to delete their child’s social media account. The platforms will have a 10-day period to comply with the request or face a sanction from the state’s attorney general.
Texas is not the sole governing body that is interested in limiting access to social media. Last year, Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a bill into law that explicitly prohibits individuals under the age of 14 from using social media and mandates that 14- and 15-year-olds obtain parental consent before creating or accessing an existing account. Notably, the proposed law in Texas is significantly more stringent than that.
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In April 2024, the US Senate introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of social media platforms by individuals under the age of 13 on a broader scale. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) recently made comments that suggest a potential second attempt to approve this bill, after being unable to do so during the committee stage.
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