Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Roy Wyman provided insight for an article in POLITICO examining the rising number of states considering legislation to protect kids’ mental health online by requiring social media companies to create child-safe versions of their sites.
Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois, New Mexico, Maryland, and Minnesota are among the states that have introduced or updated bills to limit kids’ social media exposure. These moves come amid concerns that social media is contributing to increasing rates of mental illness among children. Though there is bipartisan support on Capitol Hill to do more, lawmakers can’t agree on whether a national privacy standard should override state laws.
The article cites Roy for the idea that a critical mass of states could effectively set a national standard as social media firms operate their sites uniformly across state lines.
The impetus for change is growing rapidly as pressure mounts against the tech giants. With massive fines for privacy violations being levied around the globe against social media companies, these site-runners are responding to the regulatory push in stride, with some voluntarily making design changes to protect kids and pledging support for federal legislation to set rules.
The full article, “States Get Serious About Limiting Kids’ Social Media Exposure,” was published by POLITICO on January 13 and is available online.