Gov. Maura Healey proposed a series of mandates on social media companies that include default settings limiting app-use times for teens, as well as deactivation of location tracking programs and youth-targeted advertising, but fell short of endorsing the outright ban on social media apps for those younger than 14 years old across the state that the House of Representatives passed last week.
Declaring “it’s a matter of control,” Healey termed her proposals as “not a ban” but a demand that the social media companies be responsive to the potential harm that features such as autoplay, infinite scroll and targeted algorithms have on the mental health of young people.
“The legislature discussed a ban,” Healey said during a “Keeping Teens Safe Online” news conference on Tuesday. “And it applied to students up to a certain age. Ours is not a ban. It speaks to deactivating certain settings that drive addiction. And, also, it applies to anybody under the age of 18.
“So, it’s complementary.”
Healey said her proposals are about giving parents and young people control over social media use instead of allowing social media companies free rein of influence over young people.
Among the restrictions would be a two-hour limit per day for those under 18, and the disabling of the types of auto-play and infinite scroll features that Healey said drive social media obsession among young people.
She said, under her proposal, parents would have the ability to override the default settings, but that they would be the standard, as opposed to ones that the teens and parents have to opt into after signing up for the apps.
House leaders last week proudly proclaimed the proposed Massachusetts ban on social media app use for all children 13 years old or younger as being among the “most restrictive in the entire country.”
The proposed House bill would ban all social media apps for those up to 13 years old and require verified permission for apps for 14- and 15-year-olds. It would impose no limits or restrictions once teens turned 16 years old.
The House bill would have to be reconciled with a Senate bill passed earlier this session that bans all cell phones in schools but does not address overall social media use.
Healey introduced her proposals as part of the supplemental budget introduced this week.
“This isn’t a ban,” she said. “But it is a default to deactivate the things we know are most addictive to kids on social media.”
Other states, such as Florida, that have attempted to implement similar complete bans on social media use have had those laws challenged in courts on the basis of First Amendment rights.
Healey previously canceled a press conference set to announce “new legislation to establish strong protections for teens on social media and create safer online experiences for young people across Massachusetts” as the House debated its restrictions in recent weeks.
The digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future issued a statement on Tuesday saying that it has been working for years to address the harm of Big Tech social media companies by supporting privacy, antitrust, and algorithmic justice legislation. But that its broad coalition of human rights, LGBTQ, racial justice and civil liberties organizations “vehemently oppose the legislation that just passed the House.”
“Massachusetts legislators are actively helping Trump’s authoritarian takeover by pushing for legislation that expands censorship and surveillance,” Fight for the Future said in its statement. “This is one of the worst versions of this type of legislation we’ve seen.
“Even red states with conservative supermajorities have avoided some of the parental surveillance provisions present in the Massachusetts bill because they raise such serious concerns for the safety of LGBTQ youth and young people’s right to privacy.”
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