Legislation introduced on April 26 by a group of bipartisan senators would set a minimum age requirement for social media use and impose other restrictions on how such platforms present content to minors.
Sponsored by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.), the bill requires social media platforms to verify that users are over the age of 13 and to obtain parental consent for users age 13 to 17.
The bill also prohibits social media companies from using algorithms to determine what content is presented.
“We are now more than a decade into the largest epidemic of teen mental illness on record, and we do know what’s driving it: social media and its algorithmic boosting that uses kids’ personal data to manipulate them,” Schatz said while announcing the bill at a press conference on April 26….