Under language inserted in the governor’s and the Ohio Senate’s budget plans, social-media companies and owners of similar websites would have to set up a system to verify that every Ohioan creating a new account is at least 16 years old — such as providing a copy of a driver’s license or holding a videoconference with a company employee. For Ohioans younger than 16, they would be able to create an account only if a parent or guardian gives permission to the company.
After that, those parents and guardians would have the ability, when their children sign up, to set filters on how their kids can use the site or app, including limiting the amount of time they can access it and moderating the type of content they see.
The proposed social-media rules in Ohio are not yet law. The version of the budget introduced last week by the Ohio Senate includes slightly different language from what DeWine proposed when he submitted his budget to the Ohio General Assembly. Among other changes, the Senate’s version is more narrowly tailored to apply to social-media sites: it would, for example, exempt the parental-notification law from applying to e-commerce reviews, comments on news stories, internet service providers, search engines, and cloud service provider.
The version already passed by the Ohio House, meanwhile, leaves the social-media proposals out entirely.
That means the House and Senate could be forced to hash out differences in a budget conference committee. Lawmakers have until the end of the month to hammer out a final budget proposal to send to DeWine’s desk.
When Senate GOP spokesman John Fortney was asked if the Senate intends to keep the social-media provisions in its final budget plan and push for them in conference committee, he replied, “TBA.” Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer has reached out to a spokesman for House Republicans for comment.
Last month, the U.S. Surgeon General warned that social-media use among kids presents “a profound risk of harm” to them in ways such as increasing the likelihood of depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, poor self-esteem and body image, and other mental-health issues. A Pew Research Center survey released last year found that two-thirds of Americans age 13-17 used TikTok, 62% of them used Instagram, and 59% of them used Snapchat.
Husted, speaking at a news conference with DeWine on Monday, said many social-media apps have algorithms that are “designed to be addictive” for children.
“We know that these technologies are negatively affecting our teens and adolescents, from a mental and physical point of view,” Husted said. “It’s leading to deaths of young people.”
Ohio is one of a number of states that have passed or are considering laws regulating teenagers’ use of platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook.
Some states’ social-media restrictions for minors go beyond what the DeWine administration is seeking. Earlier this year, Utah passed a law requiring anyone younger than 18 to get parental permission when creating a social-media account, ban them from accessing social media at night, and mandate that parents get full access to their kids’ accounts. A new California law would, among other things, require platforms that kids are likely to use to make user settings high-privacy by default.
Husted said he couldn’t speak for other states. “We trying to lead here by starting with this,” he said.
Husted also said the DeWine administration heard from “almost all” social-media companies – he declined to say which ones – to ensure the proposed law was written in a way that the companies could comply with.
“I think they know it’s inevitable,” Husted said. “I think they know they have a problem.”
© 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
