THE HILL
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill on Tuesday to ban children under 16 years old from using social media.
The legislation, which is entitled the Making Age-Verification Technology Uniform, Robust, and Effective (MATURE) Act, would require social media companies to not allow a person to make an account unless the platform verifies that the user is at least 16 years old.
Users who want to create accounts would need to provide their full legal name, date of birth and a scan, image or upload of a government-issued identification that verifies their name and birth date.
“Children suffer every day from the effects of social media. At best, Big Tech companies are neglecting our children’s health and monetizing their personal information. At worst, they are complicit in their exploitation and manipulation. It’s time to give parents the weapons they need to strike back,” Hawley said in a release.
…A study released last month found that social media use might affect youth brain development. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy also said last month that 13-year-olds were too young to join social media, arguing that they do a “disservice” to adolescents who are just developing their identities.
