Texas push to ban minors under 18 from social media fades with time
running out
[May 29, 2025]
By JIM VERTUNO
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A push in Texas to ban social media accounts for
children under 18 faded Thursday after lawmakers did not take a key vote
on creating one of the nation's toughest restrictions aimed at keeping
minors off platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
The bill, which already passed the GOP-controlled state House, aims to
go further than a Florida social media ban for minors under 14.
Australia banned social media accounts for anyone under 16.
But earlier momentum behind the Texas measure slowed at the eleventh
hour in the state Senate as lawmakers face a weekend deadline to send
bills to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott has not said publicly
whether he supported the proposed ban, which was opposed by tech trade
groups and critics who called it it an unconstitutional limit on free
speech.
“This bill was the best way to protect children in this state,” state
Rep. Jared Patterson, a Republican carrying the measure, said Wednesday.
The legislative session ends Monday. That leaves a narrowing path for
the proposal that, if passed, would set up another test of state efforts
to set boundaries on how and when children can access social media.
Many tech companies have established a presence in Texas, including X,
which is owned by Elon Musk.
Earlier this week, Abbott signed into law a separate measure requiring
Apple and Google to verify the age of online app store users, as well as
parental consent to download apps and make in-app purchases for users
under 18. Utah passed a similar bill earlier this year.
The proposed Texas ban aimed at minors is the latest move in a growing
bipartisan push nationwide to address the impacts of social media on the
well-being of children. Critics accuse platforms of using addictive
functions to lure children onto their site and keep them there, and of
not doing enough to curb violent or age-inappropriate content, or online
abuse.
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A child holds an iPhone at an Apple store on Sept. 25, 2015 in
Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online “constantly”
despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones
on their mental health, according to a December 2024 report
published by the Pew Research Center.
The American Psychological Association has called on tech companies
and lawmakers to protect children’s mental health, arguing that
social media platforms are “particularly risky” to young people who
cannot disengage from sites and struggle with impulse control.
States and countries have passed various measures to address the
problem, and some have run into legal challenges.
A federal judge in 2024 temporarily blocked Utah’s
first-in-the-nation law requiring social media companies to check
the ages of all users and place restrictions on accounts belonging
to minors.
California, which is home to some of the largest tech companies in
the world, will make it illegal for social media platforms to
knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental
consent starting in 2027. And New York state allows parents to block
their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform’s
algorithm.
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