SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – Georgia is looking to put new limits on how kids 14 and under use social media.
State lawmakers say one of their major concerns is how addictive these platforms are, especially for kids.
Tuesday Georgia lawmakers met to introduce a bill that would require social media companies to use age verification and adjust their algorithms for users 14 and younger.
“This may be a business decision for adults, but it’s a serious problem when the user is a child,” said State Senator Bo Hatchett of District 50.
Hatchett says the bill focuses on limiting how platforms interact with minors if companies know an account belongs to a child.
“It says that if a social media company knows an account belongs to a minor, it cannot use engagement maximizing algorithms and design features on that child,” Hatchett said.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, known as EPIC, supports the bill. Deputy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald says she relates personally because her child is in middle school.
“Kids spend a lot of time online, and this is by design. The more time a user spends on certain online products, the more money companies make,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald and Senator Hatchett say the bill was drafted specifically to avoid potential First Amendment lawsuits.
“A lot of states have passed kids’ online safety laws. They’ve been sued by NetChoice,” Fitzgerald said. “NetChoice just sued South Carolina last night, but this bill was specifically drafted to avoid those issues.”
Brandy Blue, representing the ACLU of Georgia, spoke before the committee, admitting she originally came to oppose the bill.
“We know that the goal is to protect children, and we all want to protect children, but young people also have First Amendment rights, and those rights should be protected as well,” Blue said.
Blue says she is now looking forward to working with officials on the bill.
“Kids can still access lawful speech,” Hatchett said. “They can still communicate. They can still participate, but what they can’t be subjected to is engineered addiction.”
The Senate committee will meet about this bill again next week.
