A new bipartisan federal proposal introduced in the US Senate today would set a national age limit for using social media, effectively banning anyone 12 and under from using the apps many children spend hours a day on.
There are many efforts floating around Capitol Hill aimed at safeguarding the nation’s children from the dangers of social media, but this new measure, known as the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, takes aim at the algorithms Silicon Valley employs to keep kids on their sites. Specifically, it bars children under 13 from creating accounts on social media apps, while greatly curtailing the algorithms that tech companies could deploy on people between the ages of 13 and 17. (Users under 13 would still be able to view online content, provided they aren’t logged in to an account.) The bill would also require parental consent for anyone under 18 to create a profile.
To ensure preteens and children don’t create social media profiles, the bill would also create a government-run age-verification program, overseen by the Department of Commerce. The system would require children and their parents to upload identification to prove their age. While the legislation doesn’t mandate that companies use the government system, it would nevertheless represent a significant expansion of the government’s role in the online ecosystem.
As such, the bill could upend the internet as we know it by adding substantial government oversight over social media platforms. The bipartisan legislation’s being met with bipartisan skepticism.
“We kind of went through this when Tipper Gore was trying to ban music for some people,” Senator Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, says upon first hearing of the concept.
The legislation’s sponsors are offended by the comparison. In fact, they say their proposal purposely avoids content altogether.
“Let’s be clear, this bill is completely content-neutral,” says Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. “All it says is that you cannot build a purposefully addictive program that leads especially vulnerable children down deep, deep, dark rabbit holes.”