Latest news with #HB499
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill to add social media warning labels advances to Texas Senate
The Brief HB 499 would require social media companies to provide warning labels about the link between minors' usage and significant mental health issues. The bill passed in the Texas House last week. The author believes it has enough bipartisan support to pass in the Texas Senate as well. DALLAS - Last week, the Texas House passed a bill that would require social media platforms to have warning labels as a tool to address the youth mental health crisis. The bill is now expected to receive support from the more conservative Texas Senate. What we know Texas House Bill 499 was filed by State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, a Democrat from the El Paso area. It seeks to add a label that would appear every time a user opens a social media app, warning them of the association between minors' social media usage and significant mental health issues. By the numbers According to Pew Research, 81% of teens use social media, spending an average of 2.5 hours per day or more online. What they're saying A nonprofit organization called the Kids Code Coalition is trying to build momentum in the Texas Legislature in support of the bill. "For too long, social media platforms have been driving our children to distraction and exploiting their emotions for profit," said Julie Scelfo, the founder and executive director of Mothers Against Media Addiction. Ayaan Moledina, a high school sophomore from Austin who took part in a virtual news conference on Monday, also shared his personal experience with social media scrolling. "I've been broken before, and I've seen my peers break. And it's tragic," he said. "We see people at parties we weren't invited to, bodies we feel we'll never have, and lives that look happier than ours. And we internalize that. Moledina said he supports the measure. "As someone who has battled serious mental health issues, I can say if I had seen those warnings when I was in the darkest places in my life, if I had known other people who were struggling and help was available, I might have asked for help sooner," he said. What's next Rep. Gonzalez believes the bill has enough bipartisan support to pass in the Senate. But time may be a factor. The 89th Texas Legislative session is set to end on June 2. The Source FOX 4's Alex Boyer gathered details for this story from a virtual news conference on HB 499 hosted by the Kids Code Coalition, as well as a hearing on the bill and documents from the Texas Legislature.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'The modern-day cigarette': Texas House bill would ban kids from social media
A bipartisan majority of the Texas House is seeking to crack down on social media use by minors. House Bill 186 filed by Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, would prohibit Texas children from using social media and would require platforms to delete accounts of children at the request of a parent. It would also mandate social media companies to verify that new users are over 18. The House passed the bill by a 116-25 vote Wednesday. The bill's author cited a recent Pew study linking social media use to rising rates of mental health issues among teens, and he has called social media "the most dangerous product legally accessible to Texas kids." "I believe that this is the modern-day cigarette," Patterson said during debate on the bill. "I think that we're going to wake up at some point in this country and realize what we have done to an entire generation of kids that are on this highly addictive product called social media." Under the proposal, social media companies such as Instagram, TikTok and X could face penalties under Texas' deceptive trade practices statutes if they fail to comply. Critics of the bill said its requirement for companies to verify social media users' ages — likely through uploading a photo ID — would affect adults in addition to minors. Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said privacy concerns and fears of data breaches could chill online political discourse. "If somebody wants to, let's say for the purposes of political speech, they want to create an anonymous account or a parody account … they would not be able to create those accounts unless they put in their personal information and verify it," Wu said. Patterson argued that social media companies already know more about their users than is contained on a driver's license and noted that the bill requires companies to delete data after verifying users' ages. Other opponents, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group, argue that the bill infringes on the rights of children and their parents. "Minors have First Amendment rights, including the right to receive the vast majority of content on social media, as well as the right to use it for speech of their own," Ari Cohn, FIRE's lead counsel for tech policy, said in a statement. "And not only does the bill violate the First Amendment rights of minors, but it may well infringe on parental rights to raise their own children as they see fit." The House on Tuesday also passed HB 499 by Rep. Mary Gonzales, D-Clint, which would require social platforms to display a warning about the links between social media use and mental health concerns in children. Both bills have been advanced to the Senate, where they are expected to garner support. If passed in the upper chamber and signed by the governor, HB 186 would take effect Jan. 1, 2026. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas House bill would ban kids from social media
