Social media bill doesn’t get enough likes in committee

A bill supported by Del. Hillary Pugh Kent (R-Northern Neck) that would have required parental consent for minors to download social media platforms was essentially killed by a key House committee.

The bill, HB 1161, was presented to the Communications subcommittee of the Communications, Technology and Innovation Committee on Jan. 29. Chief patron Del. Scott Wyatt (R-Mechanicsville) said it was a protection bill that will help address teenage mental health and well-being. Del. Michelle Maldonado (D-Prince William) voted to lay the bill on the table, which means it is practically killed for this session, by a vote of 6-4.

“There’s been numerous studies pertaining to children who spend long periods of time on social media,” Wyatt said during the committee meeting. “In 2019, the Mayo Clinic surveyed more than 6,500 youth between the ages of 12 and 15 years old and found that those who spent more than three hours using social media have a heightened risk of mental illness.”

Wyatt said other states in the United States are also requiring parental consent for social media accounts. States such as Ohio, Utah, Arkansas, South Carolina, and New York are all considering bills regulating social media access for minors.

“House Bill 1161 requires a controllable platform processor, obtained verifiable parental consent when a minor accesses its platform,” Wyatt said. “A parent can provide a signed consent form or any government-issued ID to verify their legal age.”

Wyatt said social media distracts teenagers from their homework, family, and exercise, disrupts sleep and can become a hub for cyberbullying.

“It’s just so parents know their child, their youth, is actually on that social media,” Wyatt said. “It gets the parents involved and the parents know what social media platforms they are on.”

Kent, who is in her first session as a delegate, did not respond to numerous requests for comment on why she was a co-patron on this bill.

Daniel Davies, a representative from The Family Foundation, a conservative faith-based group that supports the rights of parents to have a say in issues like abortion or school activities, told the subcommittee that this bill should be supported because of its protections for children online and guarantee of parental involvement.

Eric Link of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, one of the largest tech councils in the United States, spoke against the bill, citing confusion over the broad definition of social media in the bill.

“If a company were found to be possibly in violation of this bill, they would be facing either injunctive action or a fine of $7,500 per instance,” Link said. “These are not… idle things we are talking about.”

Maldonado thought the ideas of this bill were important but the bill isn’t there yet. It’s too broad to be put in place, she said.

“I think there is a path forward for us to all get this right for our kids,” Maldonado said.