This month the American Psychological Association (APA) released a health advisory notice that addressed the impact of social media on children. Last month, Senator Brian Schatz introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act (PKSMA), which while addressing some issues of similar bills, fails to consider the tools parents already have to monitor their children’s activity online. Furthermore, it goes against best practices for social media use, as stated by the APA, by uniformly painting social media as harmful while ignoring existing nuance.
What Does the PKSMA Do?
Currently the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulates how websites deal with young users. COPPA applies to websites that target young users by requiring more stringent data practices and requires websites to obtain parental permission before allowing users under 13 years old on their platforms. In practice, this has led to most websites requiring users to affirm their age, which is limited in effectiveness as it is easily circumvented.
The PKSMA goes beyond COPPA protections by banning children under 13 from having social media accounts altogether and requiring parental permission before teenagers make an account.
The only real benefit of the bill is the effort to address some of the current shortcomings of age verification systems. However, even this aspect would require additional government involvement. oHoThe pilot program would allow social media companies to take steps beyond self-identification to reasonably verify users’ ages without requiring personal information.
The pilot program allows for the creation of a digital ID by the Secretary of Commerce to be used by social media companies. This digital ID would be given to social media companies rather than government ID for age verification purposes and prevents the companies themselves needing to collect data from minors.
What Does the Evidence Say?
The PKSMA, as well as the other social media legislation, assumes social media has a harmful effect on minors. The research suggests that it is much more nuanced than that.
Heavy parental guidance is recommended for preteen children, with specific recommendations for parents to closely monitor children between 10 and 14 to help them develop digital literacy at a pace more suited to their needs.
The APA report argues that teenagers can benefit from social media when used correctly, especially when going through a difficult time and needing peer support. While recommending some systemic changes, like better reporting systems for questionable content, overall, the report shows that parental guidance rather than a blanket ban is essential for learning how to navigate social media.
Overly regulating children’s access to the internet can also prevent them from learning the skills necessary to use the internet. According to a report by UNICEF, children who use the internet for a wide variety of reasons are more skilled at using it than children who don’t have access. With the internet becoming a bigger part of professional and social life, learning how to navigate it at a young age could help better prepare them for adulthood.
How Parents Can Already Protect their Children Online
The PKSMA circumvents parental oversight in more ways than just instituting a ban. The legislation also duplicates market solutions that give parents more power to curate their child’s internet experience. There are existing tools that offer an individualized and robust approach to monitoring children’s time online. In addition to parental control programs for PC and phones, many apps also offer systems. Snapchat and YouTube, among others, offer parental control settings with private options available that are more easily tailored to different families’ needs. There is no need to resort to government action.
Bills like the PKSMA are unnecessary as the tools to help control what kids see on the internet already exist and current research shows guidance, rather than bans, work to help kids safe while on the internet. Protecting children when using social media can be accomplished without government action.
Trey Price is a technology policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information, visit https://www.theamericanconsumer.org/ or follow us on Twitter @ConsumerPal.