Texas bill would ban social media for children under 18

[Florida Man for Crime]

https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-bill-would-ban-social-media-for-children-under-18

DALLAS - A Republican lawmaker from North Texas filed a bill aimed at keeping children off social media. State Rep. Jared Patterson’s HB 896 would require social media users to be 18 years old to create an account. Patterson believes social media is harmful to children and compared it to the use of cigarettes before 1964.

"Once thought to be perfectly safe for users, social media access to minors has led to remarkable rises in self-harm, suicide, and mental health issues," he said.

...

Under HB 896, social media sites would also be forced to verify a user’s age with a photo ID and allow parents to request the removal of their child’s account.

"The harms social media poses to minors are demonstrable not just in the internal research from the very social media companies that create these addictive products, but in the skyrocketing depression, anxiety, and even suicide rates we are seeing afflict children," said Greg Sindelar, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "We are tremendously grateful for Rep. Jared Patterson’s leadership on keeping this precious population safe, and TPPF is fully supportive of prohibiting social media access to minors to prevent the perpetual harms of social media from devastating the next generation of Texans."

[Person Man]

This is San Francisco level loony tunes.

[Horus]

Lol, that isn't going to work.

Norway has banned face filters though, maybe we could give that a shot.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Why is the right so obsessed with children? It's sort of creepy

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I was making social media accounts well before I was 18. Had such a law existed on paper, I would have likely ignored it.

[politicallefty]

This is pretty blatantly unconstitutional, so pretty much par for the course with proposals from the Texas Legislature.

[Dani Rose]

I see the GOP is doing really well with moderating their image post-2022.

[Florida Man for Crime]

I see the GOP is doing really well with moderating their image post-2022.

This will make Gen Z solid Republican for sure.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

I see the GOP is doing really well with moderating their image post-2022.

This will make Gen Z solid Republican for sure.

"You ungrateful little sh**ts deserve a polluted planet, your concerns don't matter, and we're taking away everything you like and forcing you to give birth so we have wage slaves to fund our boomer base's retrirement. F@ck you. Vote for us!"

[Mercenary]

Using evil to fight evil.
Social media is the great cancer of the current era but authoritarianism is a cancer that has existed since the dawb of humankind.

[beaver2.0]

Based Texas.

[Ferguson97]

Under HB 896, social media sites would also be forced to verify a user’s age with a photo ID and allow parents to request the removal of their child’s account.

Seems like an unconstitutional government overreach and a massive privacy violation.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I hate social media but this is not the way to weaken its toxic influence over society.

That's "free speech and small government" conservative politics in 2022 for you though.

[Vice President Christian Man]

But Big Tech bad...

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

TX Republicans are going to be in for a rude awakening if they keep stuff like this up at the state level. I agree with skill and Chance dems have a great shot at winning the TX house someday

[Mr. Smith]

Based.

But also not enforceable sadly.

[Schiff for Senate]

Under HB 896, social media sites would also be forced to verify a user’s age with a photo ID and allow parents to request the removal of their child’s account.

Seems like an unconstitutional government overreach and a massive privacy violation.

So much for small government and letting parents make decisions for their kids.

[Schiff for Senate]

TX Republicans are going to be in for a rude awakening if they keep stuff like this up at the state level. I agree with skill and Chance dems have a great shot at winning the TX house someday

Well, it's going to take a long time with the GOP's gerrymandering. Worth noting that under the 2010s lines, however, Biden came just short of winning half of the seats in the TX House and TX Senate, winning 74/150 House seats (just one short of the 50% mark, to be precise, 49.33%) and 15/31 Senate seats (48.39%).

[Schiff for Senate]

I hate social media but this is not the way to weaken its toxic influence over society.

That's "free speech and small government" conservative politics in 2022 for you though.

I mostly agree with this. What TimTurner said is likely true for many other posters:

I was making social media accounts well before I was 18. Had such a law existed on paper, I would have likely ignored it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

TX Republicans are going to be in for a rude awakening if they keep stuff like this up at the state level. I agree with skill and Chance dems have a great shot at winning the TX house someday

Well, it's going to take a long time with the GOP's gerrymandering. Worth noting that under the 2010s lines, however, Biden came just short of winning half of the seats in the TX House and TX Senate, winning 74/150 House seats (just one short of the 50% mark, to be precise, 49.33%) and 15/31 Senate seats (48.39%).

Ds have a very very good shot in the TX House by the end of the decade, from the looks of it. Senate is a harder climb. Statewide will probably be hardest.

[Schiff for Senate]

TX Republicans are going to be in for a rude awakening if they keep stuff like this up at the state level. I agree with skill and Chance dems have a great shot at winning the TX house someday

Well, it's going to take a long time with the GOP's gerrymandering. Worth noting that under the 2010s lines, however, Biden came just short of winning half of the seats in the TX House and TX Senate, winning 74/150 House seats (just one short of the 50% mark, to be precise, 49.33%) and 15/31 Senate seats (48.39%).

Ds have a very very good shot in the TX House by the end of the decade, from the looks of it. Senate is a harder climb. Statewide will probably be hardest.

Didn't the GOP solidify their majorities through defensive (or even offensive) gerrymandering though? I would really have guessed so, given
a.) They did just this for the House seats.
b.) Post-redistricting, the number of Trump 2020 State House seats goes up from 76 to 85 (less than 51% to nearly 57%), per the Texas Tribune.
c.) Also per the Tribune, the number of Trump 2020 Senate districts goes from 16 to 19 (about 52% to over 61%).

So I highly doubt that either house flips by the end of the decade (when, though it might be much harder, the GOP can probably draw up a new and improved gerrymander). And I would most definitely argue that if either house does actually flip, Democrats will definitely have won something or the other statewide.

[world.execute(me)]

TX Republicans are going to be in for a rude awakening if they keep stuff like this up at the state level. I agree with skill and Chance dems have a great shot at winning the TX house someday

Well, it's going to take a long time with the GOP's gerrymandering. Worth noting that under the 2010s lines, however, Biden came just short of winning half of the seats in the TX House and TX Senate, winning 74/150 House seats (just one short of the 50% mark, to be precise, 49.33%) and 15/31 Senate seats (48.39%).

Ds have a very very good shot in the TX House by the end of the decade, from the looks of it. Senate is a harder climb. Statewide will probably be hardest.

Didn't the GOP solidify their majorities through defensive (or even offensive) gerrymandering though? I would really have guessed so, given
a.) They did just this for the House seats.
b.) Post-redistricting, the number of Trump 2020 State House seats goes up from 76 to 85 (less than 51% to nearly 57%), per the Texas Tribune.
c.) Also per the Tribune, the number of Trump 2020 Senate districts goes from 16 to 19 (about 52% to over 61%).

So I highly doubt that either house flips by the end of the decade (when, though it might be much harder, the GOP can probably draw up a new and improved gerrymander). And I would most definitely argue that if either house does actually flip, Democrats will definitely have won something or the other statewide.

IIRC the state house gerrymander was limited by laws that limited county splitting, so a lot of those trump seats in the house are probably narrower than in the senate.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

TX Republicans are going to be in for a rude awakening if they keep stuff like this up at the state level. I agree with skill and Chance dems have a great shot at winning the TX house someday

Well, it's going to take a long time with the GOP's gerrymandering. Worth noting that under the 2010s lines, however, Biden came just short of winning half of the seats in the TX House and TX Senate, winning 74/150 House seats (just one short of the 50% mark, to be precise, 49.33%) and 15/31 Senate seats (48.39%).

Ds have a very very good shot in the TX House by the end of the decade, from the looks of it. Senate is a harder climb. Statewide will probably be hardest.

Didn't the GOP solidify their majorities through defensive (or even offensive) gerrymandering though? I would really have guessed so, given
a.) They did just this for the House seats.
b.) Post-redistricting, the number of Trump 2020 State House seats goes up from 76 to 85 (less than 51% to nearly 57%), per the Texas Tribune.
c.) Also per the Tribune, the number of Trump 2020 Senate districts goes from 16 to 19 (about 52% to over 61%).

So I highly doubt that either house flips by the end of the decade (when, though it might be much harder, the GOP can probably draw up a new and improved gerrymander). And I would most definitely argue that if either house does actually flip, Democrats will definitely have won something or the other statewide.

IIRC the state house gerrymander was limited by laws that limited county splitting, so a lot of those trump seats in the house are probably narrower than in the senate.

Exactly.
Funnily enough, Texas Ds tried to kill these laws in the early 1970s, but the courts slapped it down hard, forcing Ds to tolerate the existence of R-voting State House seats in places like suburban Dallas.

IIRC, the criteria for which TX State House seats are allocated is placed in the TX constitution itself and changing that would require a statewide referendum.

[Ferguson97]

Under HB 896, social media sites would also be forced to verify a user’s age with a photo ID and allow parents to request the removal of their child’s account.

Seems like an unconstitutional government overreach and a massive privacy violation.

So much for small government and letting parents make decisions for their kids.

Not even that, but this would essentially require EVERYONE to register in order to prove their age. It's so dumb.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I think they should give it a crack.

It won't work, but some ideas which are useful will come out of it. You have to try 10 things to get one useful outcome.

It's annoying how social media affects a teenagers' education.