Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: Texas is getting ready to ban social media for anyone under 18

Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 18:02:02 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/texas-i...

Texas could become the next US state to lay down the law with social media
platforms. A Texas bill that would ban social media use for anyone under 18
recently moved past the Senate committee and is due for a vote in front of
the Texas State Senate. The bill has until the state's legislative session
comes to an end on June 2, leaving roughly a week for it to be approved by
both the Senate and the governor.

Earlier this year, the bill passed the House committee stage and was later
voted in favor of by the state's House of Representatives. If made into law,
the bill would force social media platforms to verify the age of anyone
setting up an account, much like how Texas passed legislation requiring
websites hosting porn to implement an age verification system. On top of
that, Texas' social media ban proposes to let parents delete their child's
social media account, allowing the platforms 10 days to comply with the
request or face a fine from the state's attorney general.

Texas isn't the only governing body interested in restricting social media
access. Last year, Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law a bill
that outright bans anyone under 14 from using social media and requires 14-
and 15-year-olds to get parental consent to make an account or use an
existing account. Notably, Texas' proposed law is much stricter than that.

On a larger scale, the US Senate introduced a bill to ban social media
platforms for anyone under 13 in April 2024. After being stuck in the
committee stage, Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
recently made comments that signal a potential second attempt at getting this
passed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/texas-i...
media-for-anyone-under-18-180202219.html?src=rss

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