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Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz) is introducing legislation Tuesday mandating social media platforms receive parental permission before children under 16 can create and keep accounts on the applications.
The measure would be the most significant requirement on social media companies operating in the U.S., raising the age threshold at least three years for some platforms.
The Parental Approval for Youth Social Media Act, first shared with The Hill, would ban users under 16 from creating or maintaining online profiles by default, but allow a parent or legal guardian to authorize accounts should they choose to.
Exceptions will be made for email, text messaging, educational platforms, video conferencing services, online gaming or “other services where social interaction is incidental to the primary function,” Gallego’s office said.
The Arizona Democrat first floated the idea late last month following French lawmakers’ decision to ban social media use for kids under 15.
“Good idea — but I think it should be 16,” he said in a post online last month.
Aside from the age difference, France’s ban is a blanket measure, with no option for parental or guardian consent.
Gallego pointed to studies showing the mental health impact of social media and suggested that kids, when unsupervised online, can be “exposed to explicit material, recruited by drug or sexual traffickers or cyber bullied.”
“Meanwhile, Big Tech is profiting off that very screen time,” the senator added.
The movement for social media bans has gained steam across the world. Australia was the first country to implement an under-16 ban late last year, followed by Indonesia, while countries like Brazil and Canada are considering similar legislation.
Former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in June the United Kingdom would pursue a similar ban, though its fate is unclear given his resignation.
Similar measures face long odds in Washington, where the Trump administration has openly opposed Europe’s social media bans.
Ahead of Starmer’s June announcement, the U.S. Embassy in London argued in a letter that most content should be accessible by default, including political speech.
“We believe an open internet is essential to the preservation of free speech,” the embassy stated, adding regulations could “impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American companies.”
Instead, it encouraged parents to manage their kids’ privacy settings, including time control preferences, while shying away from official restrictions.
With just months to go before the end of this Congress, pressure is at an all-time high on lawmakers to get kids safety legislation across the finish line.
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