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The Texas Legislature is poised to impose sweeping restrictions on how
minors use social media, from banning them from signing up for accounts
and requiring parental consent to download applications, to placing
warning labels about their dangers.
House Bill 186, filed by Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, has already
passed with bipartisan support in the House, and a Senate panel has
indicated its support as well. The proposal, the most far-reaching of the
bills lawmakers have filed to address online dangers this session, would prohibit minors from creating accounts on social media sites, such as
Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and more, and require users to verify their ages. Companies would have to comply with the ban by April 2026.
“Like so many parents across our state, I've watched my children grow up
in a world that feels less and less safe, not because of where they go physically, but because of where they go online, in spaces that my wife
and I can not possibly monitor at all times,” said Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R- Corpus Christi, co-sponsor of the bill, during a State Affairs Committee hearing last week.
The bill would also allow parents to request the deletion of their child’s social media account, and a company must comply within 10 days.
Under this bill, any website that allows users to curate and create
content is considered a social media website and cut off from minors. News
and sports websites will be safe.
As of June 2024, 10 states, including Texas, have passed laws restricting children’s access to social media, according to the Age Verification
Providers Association.
However, a ban on social media for Texans under 18 would be the strictest regulation of the social media industry. Currently, Florida is the only
other state with a ban on social media, but it’s only for minors under 14,
and they are working to extend the ban to those under 16.
Last week, lawmakers sent Senate Bill 2420, by Sen. Angela Paxton, R-
McKinney, to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk, establishing age verification requirements and mandating parental consent before a minor is allowed to download or make purchases within software applications. Lawmakers are
also considering House Bill 499, by Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, which
would require social media platforms to have a warning label about the association between a minor’s social media usage and significant mental
health issues.
“We have the ability and the power to act today. With House Bill 186, we confront the evil before us and boldly say, ‘You cannot have our
children,’” Hinojosa said in an emotional address to lawmakers.
Teen athletes
Last week, senators in the State Affairs Committee heard from many
teenagers who told them that while their hearts might be in the right
place, an outright social media ban for anyone under 18 is not the answer.
Many suggested lowering the age limit to 16 instead.
“The harmful content that young people are exposed to online does not
disappear when they turn 18,” said Morgan McGuire, a 17-year-old Texas
resident and TikToker with over a million followers. “The bill throws
young adults into a digital world at a time when they are living on their
own for the first time, without the support systems that they had as
minors, which can have serious harm on mental health.”
Teenagers pointed out to lawmakers that most of their lives and careers
are intertwined with social media, whether it’s the 17-year-old TikToker
making makeup videos or the five-star athlete posting highlight videos on Twitter and YouTube in hopes that coaches see them.
“It will be putting Texas high school student athletes at a disadvantage
for several reasons, including getting information on programs, connecting
with coaches, and competitiveness,” said William Weed, a Texas teenage
athlete, to lawmakers. “Colleges are not only looking at athletic skill
and performance, but also an athlete's brand and social media presence in today’s age of Name Image and Likeness rights.”
However, lawmakers see this digital world as not an asset but a threat.
“If this were an ideal world, we could do what you guys are saying. But
it’s obvious that social media platforms are doing exactly what my fear
is. And we have countless research stories of peers your age, committing suicide and being bullied,” said Hinojosa.
Studies show that 95% of youth aged 13 to 17 report using social media,
with more than a third stating they use social media “almost constantly.”
Nearly 40% of children aged 8 to 12 use social media, despite most
platforms requiring a minimum age of 13 to sign up, according to a study
by the U.S. Surgeon General.
Two years ago, the American Federation of Teachers and the American Psychological Association, among other national organizations, called out social media platforms for undermining classroom learning, increasing
costs for school systems, and being a “root cause” of the nationwide youth mental health crisis.
Paxton pointed out that all these bills avoid regulating online gaming, a
space where many negative interactions can happen, and questioned why this wasn’t being addressed in the social media ban. Hinojosa responded that
social media is just a starting point.
“We’re making something new,” he said.
First Amendment pushback
This isn’t the first time Texas has attempted to rein in social media, but
each attempt has ended in a court debate.
“House Bill 186 conflicts with Texas contract law and undermines teens’
right to access information, express themselves, and participate in the
digital economy,” said Megan Stokes, state policy director of the Computer
and Communications Industry Association, in a news release. “A 14-year-old
can legally work in retail or food service in Texas, but this bill would prevent them from even having a social media account.”
Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 18 into law in 2023, known as the
Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act. The SCOPE Act requires certain social media platforms to provide minors with certain
data protections, prevent minors from accessing harmful content, and give parents tools to manage their child’s use of the service.
It also required school districts to obtain parental consent for most
software and social media applications used in the classroom and look for internet alternatives for instruction.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has already sued TikTok twice under this
law, accusing the company of violating deceptive trade law by downplaying
its addictiveness and exposing children to explicit material.
The suit argues that TikTok, a short-form video app, violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by listing itself on app stores as
appropriate for children and not effectively enforcing its community guidelines. The Apple App Store lists TikTok as rated for those 12 and
older, while the Microsoft and Google Play Stores list the app as
appropriate for users 13 and older.
TikTok has denied these allegations, and the issue has been playing out in court since last year, with various student groups and internet providers
suing Paxton for violating First Amendment rights.
Opponents of this new batch of social media bills told lawmakers the same
thing would happen again.
“The way this bill is currently written, it would end up restricting the
First Amendment rights of minors,” Stokes told lawmakers Thursday. “Many
Texas teens rely on these online platforms to connect with their peers, to share their interests, to find support for personal or academic growth,
and this will be taken from them.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/19/texas-ban-minors-tiktok-facebook- snapchat-social-media/
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