Australian social media ban for teens sparks renewed calls for US action

After Australian teens were kicked off of social media this week following a nationwide social media ban for anyone in the country under the age of 16, several lawmakers and other political figures called on the United States to do something similar. 

Congress has passed some general online safety laws, such as limits on the collection of minors’ information by social media platforms, but, thus far, Congress has not enacted any laws that would change who can use social media platforms, or how the apps are designed for minors.

“I imagine it’s the opposition from the tech industry,” said Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y. “I see social media as a catastrophe for the mental health of the next generation and I feel like society is conducting an unprecedented experiment on the psyche of young Americans.”

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Torres added that he believes there is a need for reform, but also conceded that it is a “complicated area” in light of the First Amendment.

“I do think more congressional action would be wise,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital when asked why he thought Congress had not passed laws that will better protect kids on social media. “Obviously, we’re a country that values freedom and so a lot of people feel like that would be either power better exercised by the state, or power better exercised by parents.”

However, Johnson said, he does think “we need to hold some of these platforms accountable,” noting that “they have technological tools that they could very easily use to keep kids safe.”

After Australia passed its social medi ban on kids under the age of 16, both Republicans and Democrats came out to urge the United States to enact better safety measures for kids on social media. These figures included former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff while he was in office, Rahm Emanuel, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

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Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital that one of the reasons Congress has potentially stalled on passing legislation to protect kids on social media was because “a lot of people don’t know” about the dangers. 

“I think it’s gotten worse,” Norman said, in regard to the dangers of social media for kids. “Got to have an age and got to track down something that is destroying our children.”

However, some Republicans have also been weary of the push to regulate social media for kids, particularly efforts to create an age limit for the platforms. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., told Fox News Digital that she would likely not be in favor of “an all-out ban.”

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“I’m still a capitalist and there’s federalism and we have freedom here,” Boeert said. “But we have a lot of good legislation for solutions but, unfortunately, leadership prioritizes things that the American people don’t, and I think it’s time to read the room of America so we can pass good legislation.”