Politicians across the country, from both parties, have been increasingly interested in regulating how children access social media. In Illinois, JB Pritzker, Democratic governor and possible 2028 presidential contender, is pushing the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, which is intended to prevent companies from targeting minors with what Pritzker calls addictive social media feeds. The bill has passed the Illinois House and is awaiting action in the Senate.

Social media companies have been accused of deliberately trying to get children addicted to social media feeds in order to keep them scrolling—and keep them seeing targeted ads.

But many attempts to regulate social media, particularly those focusing on children, have been criticized by civil liberties groups, who worry about the privacy implications, and by LGBTQIA+ advocates, who are concerned that greater oversight of children could be used to target queer youth. The Illinois bill attempts to address some of these issues, but activists continue to have concerns. Instead, they say, social media companies and their targeted advertising should be regulated for all users, rather than just children.

The highest-profile push to regulate social media is unfolding in Massachusetts. Gov. Maura Healey and the legislature have proposed regulations that would force social media companies to install age verification systems for all social media users. The Massachusetts House passed a bill that would ban children under 14 from social media entirely, and only allow children 15 and 16 to access sites with parental consent. Healey has proposed another measure that would restrict minors on social media to two hours per day and ban features such as autoplay videos.

Evan Greer, the director of Fight for the Future, an organization focused on the intersection of technology and human rights, said she has several concerns about the Massachusetts law and others similar to it.

Read the full article about privacy at Prism Reports.