Lawmakers in Washington are once again focusing on kids, screens, and mental health. But according to Congress, Big Tech is somehow both the problem and the solution.
Supporters of a bill called the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) say it will protect children and “empower parents.” That’s a reasonable goal, especially at a time when many parents feel overwhelmed and nervous about how much time their kids spend on screens. But while the bill’s press release contains soothing language, KOSMA doesn’t actually give parents more control.
One of the main promises of KOSMA is simple and dramatic: it would ban kids under 13 from social media. Based on the language of bill sponsors, one might think that’s a big change, and that today’s rules let kids wander freely into social media sites. But that’s not the case. Every major platform already draws the same line: kids under 13 cannot have an account. The real question is how and why they get access.
If lawmakers picture under-13 social media use as a bunch of kids lying about their age and sneaking onto apps behind their parents’ backs, they’ve got it wrong. Studies that have looked at this all find the opposite: most under-13 use is out in the open, with parents’ knowledge, and often with their direct help. A 2022 study by the UK’s media regulator Ofcom, for instance, found that up to two-thirds of social media users below the age of thirteen had direct help from a parent or guardian getting onto the platform.
But this bill doesn’t just set an age rule. It creates a legal duty for platforms to police families. KOSMA contains no exceptions for parental consent, for family accounts, or for educational or supervised use. The vast majority of people policed by this bill won’t be kids sneaking around—it will be minors who are following their parents’ guidance, and the parents themselves.
Instead of respecting how most parents guide their kids towards healthy and educational content, KOSMA hands the control panel to tech companies. On our blog, we dive deeper into how this bill would take power away from parents, and hand it over to the platform that lawmakers say are the problem.
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