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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 25, 2023 04:03 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Brian Munroe |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Protecting the Mental Health of Young Users on Social Media Platforms |
| Social media has become engrained in our everyday lives. More than ever before, young individuals utilize many different social media platforms daily to keep connected with friends and family or as a form of entertainment. However, social media platforms were never designed with protection of young users in mind. Young users are subject to large corporations creating platforms using targeted algorithms to form addictive usage patterns and prescribe harmful content. As a result of using social media, young users have expressed feelings of heightened anxiety and depression. I had the privilege to meet three 9th grade students of Tamanend Middle School who were honored with an award from C-SPAN. Max Jin, Luka Jonjic, and Dylan Schwartz put forward in their award-winning documentary, “America’s Silent Struggle: Social Media’s Impact on Teens’ Mental Health”, a fictional example of a newly elected congressman working to pass legislation on social media and its impact on the mental health of youth. During this event, I suggested that we actually turn that into reality and work with myself and their parents in crafting a piece of legislation that would help tackle that issue. This legislation is a direct result of thorough conversations with these dedicated students. Our legislation would enhance protections for young Pennsylvanians when using social media. Specifically, our bill would require social media companies to monitor the chats of two or more minors on the platform and notify parents or legal guardians of flagged sensitive or graphic content. Additionally, our bill would strengthen proof of age verification on social media platforms by requiring consent from a parent or legal guardian for anyone under 16 to open a social media account and notify parents or legal guardians if a child under 16 opens a social media account without consent. Lastly, our bill would prohibit data mining for users under the age of 18 and allow any individual to request the deletion of data that was mined while they were under the age of 18. Young individuals using social media platforms are at a highly sensitive time in development. They deserve every opportunity for protection from harmful tactics by large corporations as they grow and develop into young adults. Please join us in supporting positive mental health for young users of social media platforms by establishing these enhanced protections. |
Introduced as HB2017