Josh Hawley has proposed a ban on social media usage for anyone under 16.
Some might see this as a rather radical move. Still, Hawley believes there is ample evidence that social media damage young peoples emotional and psychological lives.
Hill reports that Hawleys proposed legislation is titled the Making Age-Verification Technology Uniform, Robust, and Effective (MATURE) Act. This measure would make it a requirement for social media platforms to verify that a user is at least 16 years of age before being permitted to create an account with the platform. This is important because it could mean that there are safeguards in place to make social media websites more responsible for the kind of damage that they might do to the emotional lives of young people.
This legislation would require those who wanted to create an account to provide their full legal name, date of birth, and a scan of their government-issued identification.
Hawley said the following in a release about the legislation:
Children suffer every day from the effects of social media. At best, Big Tech companies are neglecting our childrens health and monetizing their personal information. At worst, they are complicit in their exploitation and manipulation. Its time to give parents the weapons they need to strike back.
However, some are striking back and saying that they fear this could cause troubling privacy concerns. For example, some say they are not thrilled with providing their complete government identification to access a social media website. They worry that such information might be vulnerable to threats such as hackers getting into the system and the like.
These are all legitimate fears for people, which is why many people arent quite sure what this legislation could mean for their privacy.
The legislation would be rather strict if it were passed. It would require that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) run audits of the major social media platforms to see if they comply with the rules this legislation sets. They would need to do random samplings of accounts to see if the websites had complied with the law and verify the ages of those who had accounts on the website. It is something that could radically change the way that social media companies operate. However, it is seen as a long shot to pass right now, given the Democrat's control of the Senate and White House.
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