Judiciary panel approves restrictions on social media to protect underage users

Rep. Peggy Scott (R-Andover) believes social media platforms “are designed to be addictive.”

And minors, she notes, are especially vulnerable to the dangers posed by social media, and as such, need extra protection.

HF4138 would require age monitoring and verification for social media platforms, parental approval, and specific treatment of accounts for children under age 15 related to addictive features, paid advertising, and the creation and termination of accounts.

“This bill does not ban users from having social media, instead it requires a parent or guardian to approve of social media contractual agreements,” Scott said of the bill she sponsors.

Via voice vote, the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee approved the bill, as amended, Tuesday and sent it to the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee.

Gianna Cox said her teenage classmates spend so much time on social media that they neglect their schoolwork.

The addictive nature of the platforms that are especially effective are auto-play videos and unlimited scrolling, she said, because they cater to young people’s shortened attention spans and work to shorten them even more.

Those features give instant dopamine hits, she said. “A child’s mind is very impressionable.”

The bill would require default settings on a social media account for a child under age 15 to have the strictest level of privacy. And it would require a social media platform to terminate a child’s account if they cannot get verifiable parental consent or a request is made to terminate the account.

Three industry lobbyists testified against the bill.

Amy Bos, vice president of government affairs at NetChoice, expressed concern about a requirement that would force social media platforms to use analytical software to determine whether a user is under age 15.

Platforms would need to collect far more sensitive information about Minnesota users than they collect today, she said, and if these “detailed identity dossiers” created in the name of child safety were released in a data breach the information would be extremely harmful to minors.

Rep. Sandra Feist (DFL-New Brighton) said her two children do not have access to social media, adding that industry lobbyists cannot be trusted to keep Minnesota children safe, despite what they say.

“They said they share our goals. They said, ‘We all want Minnesota kids to be safer online.’ I do not believe that. I just think they want our children to spend time on their product,” she said.

And Rep. Elliott Engen (R-White Bear Township) did not mince words when expressing his dislike of social media companies’ unrelenting focus on profiting from young users despite clear evidence their products are extremely harmful.

“[Recent generations] have been completely destroyed by purposeful corporate negligence. This is corporate negligence that they have actively turned a blind eye to.”