In the near future we plan to reintroduce Senate Bill 22 to protect minors and their mental health from social media. The data shows far too many minors are struggling with mental health, a fact laid bare during the COVID pandemic, and that social media is a contributing factor.

The use of social media by teenagers is near universal. According to data collected by Pew, 95% of teens use YouTube and 67% of teens have used TikTok, while 45% of teens have reported feeling overwhelmed by the drama on social media and 26% reported feeling worse about their own lives. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that 16% of high school students reported being electronically bullied in 2021 and, between 2011-2021, nearly 60% of female students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, while 10% of female students reported attempting suicide.

In 2023 Bucks County filed a civil lawsuit against the companies behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube alleging their platforms have worsened anxiety and depression among young people. Statistics from Bucks County schools from a 2022 survey found that 34% of the area’s school-aged youth were at risk for moderate to severe depression and more than 25% of students reported a history of suicidal ideation. The Commonwealth has since joined 40 other states in suing Meta, the company behind Facebook, for harms to minors.

Our legislation is based off bills in other states, such as Connecticut and Ohio, as well as the Clean Slate for Kids Online Act introduced in the United States Senate. Our proposed legislation would:

1. Require consent from a parent or legal guardian for anyone under 16 to open a social media account;
2. Notify parents or legal guardians if a child under 16 opens a social media account without proper consent;
3. Provide parents or legal guardians with the ability to initiate account supervision, including viewing a minor’s privacy settings and scheduling time limits;
4. Prohibit data mining for any user under 18;
5. Allow individuals to request deletion of information collected or obtained while the individual was under 18; and
6. Authorize the Attorney General to sue social media companies that permit minors to access content that is detrimental to their physical or mental health.

Previous cosponsors of this legislation include: Aument, Cappelletti, Collett, Costa, Culver, Fontana, Haywood, Kane, Muth, Pennycuick, Schwank and Rothman.

We hope you will join us in cosponsoring this legislation.