Hears from students, parents, and educators on impacts of social media use on minors
Governor’s Office
BILLINGS, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today visited Skyview High School to meet with students, parents, educators, and legislators and discuss shared priorities to protect kids on social media. On the first day back to school for the Billings School District, the governor held a roundtable and press conference to highlight the increase of screen media use and the rise of anxiety and depression in Montana teens and children.
“Social media has changed the way we communicate and connect but for too many young people, it has also become addictive, disruptive, and harmful,” Gov. Gianforte said. “As technology continues to change, and use increases, we need policies that protect youth, respect the role of parents, and safeguard privacy.”
Gov. Gianforte (center) hosting a roundtable discussion with Supt. Hedalen (right) and Sen. Zolnikov (left) at Skyview High School in Billings
During the roundtable, the governor heard from Bridger Free, a Skyview High School student, about the role social media plays in students’ daily lives and some of the challenges young people face online, including distractions and pressure from social media.
“Through the use of social media, young people have unrealistic expectations of most things. With my friends, body image is a big one. I think people spend too much time on social media and compare themselves to others, which is not healthy,” Bridger said. “At the end of the day, the hours spent scrolling, really just robs us of living. We aren’t learning as well, and we aren’t connecting and I think that definitely something needs to change.”
A Billings parent of five children, ranging in age from 7- to 17-years-old, added, “The comparison to imaginary situations is not healthy. It feels daunting and scary as a parent. I don’t want the government to do my job as a parent, but I don’t know where to start – I’m not a tech person, and I don’t know how to protect my kids other than just banning it completely. We have laws in place for all addictive substances, and we know social media is addictive, so protections are necessary.”
Highlighting ongoing conversations in Montana dress safeguards on social media use for minors, Senator Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, added, “The Interim Energy and Technology Committee is working on bipartisan legislation that states tech companies cannot utilize addictive processes that are in-place and designed to get a child on the phone by way of a notification, feed them content that is interesting, keep their eyes on it through infinite scrolling, just to them have them produce their own content for likes and engagement. This is all by design, and it is for tech companies to profit off children.”
He continued, “So, how do we regulate this but still allow innovation? We’re at the point where innovation is equal to an addictive substance, not something that is bettering society. And when it comes to protecting children, that line has been crossed.”
During the press conference, the governor mentioned recent proposals from Meta that add new safeguards and parental controls for users under 18-years-old including a two-hour daily limit that’s cumulative across Facebook and Instagram, a “Nightmode” feature that limits teen access to their feed, stories, and reels between midnight and 6 a.m., the ability to disable autoplay, and several other measures.
Gov. Gianforte called these measures good first steps and concluded the press conference by saying, “Our kids deserve the opportunity to grow up, build relationships, learn, and experience childhood without an algorithm controlling their attention. They deserve our protection, and parents deserve our support. Working with our partners in the legislature in the upcoming session, I’m optimistic about the changes we can make to address some of these big issues.”
Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen added, “My job as the superintendent at the Office of Public Instruction is to make sure that we have resources for our educator and our administrators in Montana. I look forward to working on legislation and seeing anyway that we can partner to keep our students safe and help them be focused and engaged in instruction during their day.”
In 2024, Gov. Gianforte called on Montana superintendents to adopt cell phone-free policies to prioritize learning environments where students can focus on their teachers, their classmates, and their education. In the letter to school leaders, the governor noted between 2015 and 2021, teens’ daily use of screen media has grown by two hours, to eight hours and 39 minutes per day, and daily use of screen media by 8- to 12-year-old children has grown by an hour to over five-and-a-half hours per day.
A video of the governor’s press conference may be viewed here.
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