On Monday, May 23, the California state legislature passed a bill that would hold social media companies accountable for harming addicted children.
The proposed law, which only applies to social media platforms that made at least $100 million in revenue last year, would allow parents to sue for up to $25,000 per violation.
Assembly Act No. 2408, also known as the Social Media Platform Accountability to Children Act, is a bipartisan bill designed to protect children under 18 from being addicted to social media. It doesn’t work with streaming services or services that only offer email and text messages.
What does it mean for kids to be addicted to social media?
The Act defines addiction as:
“Focusing on or obsessing over social media platforms, or quitting or making it difficult to stop or reduce use to users, despite the user’s desire to stop or reduce use of the social media platform or cause or contribute to physical, mental, emotional, developmental or material harm.”
Bill co-author Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo County) told Associated Press“The era of unbridled social experimentation with children is over, and we will protect children.”
The bill still needs to be passed by the California Senate and signed by the governor to become law.
Business groups oppose bill, suggest platforms will cease operations in California
What does the bill mean for social media companies?
In a letter to lawmakers, technology executive network Technet wrote:
“Social media companies and online web services will have no choice but to stop serving children under 18 and will implement strict age verification to ensure teens don’t use their sites.”
Technet and other business groups argue that no social media platform wants to take that responsibility.
Social media use common and potentially harmful to minors
according to American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry75% of 13-17 year olds have at least one active social media profile, with 51% reporting that they use sites like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook on a daily basis.
A sort of National Children’s Health Survey CS Mott Children’s Hospital found that 32% of children aged 7-9 are active on social media apps.
A 2019 study A study of 13- to 16-year-olds in England found that frequent social media users were three times more likely to have poor mental health, which was attributed to cyberbullying, sleep deprivation and sedentary lifestyles.
An American study in the same year It was found that 12- to 15-year-olds who spend more than three hours a day on social media may be at higher risk for mental health problems.
source: Associated Press
Featured image: Gaudi Lab/Shutterstock
