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Ramaswamy backs controversial social media limits for teens

by Rebecca Klar - 09/28/23 11:06 AM ET

This combination of photos shows logos of Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok. A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, introduced legislation aiming to prohibit all children under the age of 13 from using social media and would require permission from a guardian for users under 18 to create an account. It is one of several proposals in Congress seeking to make the internet safer for children and teens. (AP Photo, File)

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy seemingly backed controversial proposals that would limit teens under 16 from using social media platforms during a Wednesday night debate.

“This isn’t a Republican point or a Democrat point,” Ramaswamy said. “But if you’re 16 years old or under, you should not be using an addictive social media product, period.”

The conservative entrepreneur said the idea is “something that we can both agree on,” and in doing so can “revive both the mental health of this country while stopping the fentanyl epidemic.”

Concerns around children’s online safety have emerged as a rare unifying issue across party lines, but proposals such as the one Ramaswamy suggested have not been as bipartisan.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), an outspoken critic of social media companies, in February put forward a bill that would ban children under 16 from using social media.

Less extreme age restriction bills have earned bipartisan support. For example, a bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) in May would require parental consent for teens to use social media.

However, even that proposal, and similar legislation in states, has been criticized by opponents who argue it would have detrimental effects to youth, especially vulnerable minors including LGBTQ kids, by limiting their internet access.

Meanwhile, other proposals aimed at making online spaces safer for children have gained bipartisan support. Two key bills, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 (COPPA) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), advanced out the Senate Commerce Committee in July with bipartisan support.

COPPA 2.0 would update privacy rules for minors and ban targeted advertising, and KOSA would create a duty for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harm to minors.

The two bills also advanced last Congress out of the Senate, but they did not receive floor votes by the end of the session.