The Texas House has passed a bill 116-25 that would prohibit children from using social media, requiring a strict verification process to ensure account holders are at least 18 years old, and empowering Texas' Attorney General to hold social media platforms accountable if they allow underage users.

Today, the Texas House passed a bill 116-25 that would prohibit children from using social media. House Bill 186 requires a strict verification process to ensure account holders are at least 18 years old.

  • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
    153·
    22 days ago

    “I firmly believe that social media is the most harmful product that our kids have legal access to in Texas,” said Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, the bill’s author.

    Agreed. I even disagree with the opposition’s take:

    “What about the concern that this is helping these social media companies collect even more data on us,” State Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, asked Patterson.

    Oh, they already know. But this takes away the corporate plausible deniability of “we didn’t know they were kids!” when, mostly, they do.

    Enforcement of this will be a nightmare, kids will hate it with a burning passion, but I will take the regulation we can get. At this point, I am all for this scorched Earth approach.

    • kraftpudding@lemmy.world
      51·
      22 days ago

      A part of me thinks this is just trying to establish “No judge, I didn’t sext a minor, she was on social media, how could I have known she was underage” as a valid legal defense.