Protecting Kids on Social Media Act

I will begin with a couple of caveats. First, while this post describes and comments on federal legislation, this legislation has not been voted on. Second, while this legislation would place restrictions on social media use by teens and tweens, these restrictions apply only to accounts that require a login. So, for example, a 12-year-old could legally watch YouTube videos as long as that child did not establish and make use of a login. 

A bipartisan group of Senators has proposed the “Protecting Kids on Social Media Act”. In justifying the proposed legislation, the Senators note the amount of screen time accumulated by young individuals and the relationship (correlation) between screen time and mental health. 

The specific requirements included in the legislation include the following (remember that the requirements apply only to social media use that involves a signing):

• Children under 13 would not be allowed to use social media.
• Social media companies would be required to implement a system for validating the age of social media participants. The government would establish a system, but companies could create their own as long as the effectiveness of the system could be verified.
• Individuals between the age of 13 and 18 could only create a social media account with the approval of a parent or guardian.
• Social media companies could not make use of algorithms to recommend content to those under the age of 18.

In total, it would seem to me that the goal of these requirements would be to limit algorithmic recommendations because such recommendations could result in emotional consequences for young people. I say this because anyone of any age could continue to access online content as long as this content could not be tied to the identity of that individual and the denial of recommendations (e.g., YouTube) or control of a content feed (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) linked to an individual. 

Although it is not clear to me how this combination of requirements would work (e.g., a social media service would have to create a mechanism for using or not using algorithms to impact the content viewed as a function of age), I do give the lawmakers credit for volunteering the government to create a system for validating age. I think this is trickier than it sounds as it would first be necessary to verify that a parent or guardian was actually a parent or guardian and then determine what documentation would be required to verify age). The only document I can think of would be a birth certificate. 

Any bets on the likelihood of implementation?

Other sources. 

NPR

Wired