A Massachusetts bill to ban social media use for anyone younger than 14 is gaining traction in Worcester.
According to the proposed bill, the ban would “require social media companies to implement an age verification system,” require platforms to terminate the accounts of users younger than 14, and publicly post information about these systems.
Supporters of the bill in Worcester argue that the restrictions would reduce screen time and foster healthier habits among youth.
Critics, however, caution about the effectiveness and potential negative impacts on LGBTQ+ youth and civil liberties. That’s because the bill did not specify what form of verification would be used. Companies use a variety of methods, including submitting official documents, using mobile phone records, and applying facial analysis algorithms to estimate a user’s age.
After the bill passed the House, Gov. Maura Healey proposed her own bill, which she called “social media protections for teens.” According to Healey, the proposal “takes away the power from social media and gives it back to parents and young people.”
According to the BU News Service, Healey’s bill would place restrictions on features already widely used by children. It would disable features for minors, such as autoplay, which continuously presents content to users, and infinite scrolling, which continuously adds more content to the bottom of a social media feed.
Tyler Brondyk, co-founder of Athletic Futsal, Worcester’s first youth-oriented futsal club, and Roots Soccer Academy, does not deny social media’s effect on children.
“Everything is instant,” he told the BU News Service. “We live in a world of instant gratification, especially with social media.”
Brondyk supports stricter limits on social media use; however, he believes that parents should ultimately maintain influence over their children’s social media usage.
