Alabama was one of about three dozen states this year where lawmakers introduced legislation and resolutions aimed at restricting children’s and teens’ access to social media.
Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, proposed House Bill 489 in May. It would require local schools to prohibit students from reaching social media sites while on school-provided internet access.
It also would have required all public school ninth graders to receive instruction on the risks of social media and how to use it safely. Required discussion points included social media addiction, exposure to misinformation, negative effects on mental health and the permanency of content posted on social media sites.
“Employers don’t allow their company owned devices to be used for accessing the Internet, so why would we want state-owned devices to be accessed for social media and certain websites?” Robbins said. “I think there are pluses and minuses to social media. There’s the connectivity we have. It allows for the transfer of ideas …
“But it also at the same time, bad ideas can spread just as quickly as good ideas.”
Filed late in the spring session, the bill did not advance through the lawmaking process.
Robbins told Alabama Daily News recently he’s had discussions with the Alabama State Department of Education and hopes the regulations outlined in his bill can be implanted through its authority and without another bill.
“Instead of having a separate curriculum, I think we’ll be able to add it to some curriculum that’s already ongoing in the classroom,” Robbins said.
A comment from ALSDE was not immediately available.
The National Conference of State Legislatures recently said 35 states had legislation this year related to minors and social media.
Eleven states have enacted bills or resolutions including Arkansas, which this year passed a law requiring parental consent for minors to use social media sites.
But a federal judge late last month temporarily blocked the enforcement of that law at the request of a tech trade group that includes TikTok, Facebook parent Meta, and X, formerly known as Twitter. The same group last year filed a lawsuit challenging a California law barring tech companies from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally.
“Age-gating social media platforms for adults and minors does not appear to be an effective approach when, in reality, it is the content on particular platforms that is driving the state’s true concerns,” U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks wrote about the Arkansas law last month.
In May, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, and three colleagues introduced federal legislation aiming to prohibit all children under the age of 13 from using social media and would require permission from a guardian for users under 18 to create an account.
Britt’s office this week said the sponsors are working with the Senate Commerce Committee to schedule discussions on the bill, but that could be delayed past the fall as the Senate faces several pressing deadlines.
In a statement to ADN, Britt discussed the “nightmare” of the new digital age.
“Between the growing mental health crisis, exploitation by online predators, and social media companies that are willing to look the other way as they rake in massive profits, we must do more for the sake of our nation’s next generation,” Britt said. “This bill is a bold, critical step to protect our kids, secure their future, and empower parents, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance it through the process,” Senator Britt said.
Robbins said his legislation came from work he was doing on another bill targeting minors’ access to pornography.
He plans to reintroduce that legislation next year.
“I think we have a major problem in our society in terms of the way in which people are valuing the dignity of other people,” Robbins said. “And I think some of that stems from the way in which pornography, specifically extreme hardcore pornography, treats people as commodities. And I think that that is causing a major problem psychologically in teenagers and it is spilling over into adulthood.
“Rates of depression are up and I think that’s part of the reason and I think that the way in which young girls view themselves is part of it, and we’re making ourselves kind of lose out on personhood and become just sexual items.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.