This legislative session has seen a proliferation of bills related to minors and social media. Policymakers are currently most concerned about three issues on this topic:
- Negative mental health effects
- Privacy (mostly in the realm of targeted advertising)
- Illegal content such as CSAM (child sexual abuse material) and drugs
How effective these bills are at addressing these concerns is another issue. To help parents and policymakers navigate this new and complex environment, we have created the following Social Media Toolkit.
Additional resources
For policymakers
- What Should Policymakers Do about Social Media and Minors?
- Are Utah’s social media bills the path forward?
Research
- Thoughts on what the CDC YRBS data means for social media, teens, and mental health
- Poll: Americans Don’t Want To Share Their Photo ID To Tweet
- See more: CGO’s Tech Poll
- The Problems of Teen Suicide and Self-Harm Predate Social Media
- This one simple regulation will solve every teen’s problems online
In the media
- Taylor Barkley on Marketplace: Big Tech is gaining Americans’ trust, but not when it comes to their kids’ data, survey says
- Taylor Barkley in the Washington Examiner: Thirteen-year-old social media minimum age should be raised, health officials say
- Aubrey Kirchhoff: What we should and should not do about kids and social media
See also
- Content moderation is difficult. Try your hand with our Takedown Game.
CGO scholars and fellows frequently comment on a variety of topics for the popular press. The views expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for Growth and Opportunity or the views of Utah State University.