SC social media bill would require parent consent for minors

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – It may soon be harder for teens to have social media accounts in South Carolina. If you’re under 18 years old, this bill would require parental consent and age verification to access social media platforms.

The bill being debated in senate committee meetings has a variety of ways for parents to provide consent for a minor to access social media, but one way it collects information is by using your government-issued ID. Companies would have to delete that information after confirming a parent’s identity.

“Age verification often means collecting more personal data, which might worry some families who value privacy as much as they value safety,” said Tom Mann from the Computers and Communications Association.

Mann said he’s worried this bill would step on individual rights.

“Recent state legislation that would implement online age verification or estimation… Parental consent measures are currently facing numerous constitutional challenges, with numerous federal judges having placed laws on hold until these challenges can be fully reviewed.”

However, Dr. Martha Edwards, with the South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said she supports the bill because it can help protect children’s mental health by enforcing regulations.

“Protecting mental health and reducing anxiety and depression, preventing that addictive cycle of endless scrolling…. That also represents loss of endless hours of physical activity and in-person engagement.”

Edwards said she’s seen firsthand the negative effects social media can have on minors, pointing to a personal case involving a 12-year-old.

“One day she came in with what were clearly panic attacks. After taking further history, it came out that she’d been targeted by an adult male from another country. He’d been messaging her pornographic material and wouldn’t stop. She needed years of therapy and medication.”

The bill also targets advertisements that collect individuals’ personal information or activities across non-related websites.

There’s another bill in the Senate that discusses social media regulation, specifically algorithms for data collection.