Texas Could Become First State to Ban Social Media for All Minors Under 18
Texas is poised to become the first state in the U.S. to ban minors under the age of 18 from using social media.
The Texas Legislature is set to impose sweeping restrictions on minors’ use of social media through a new bill — banning them from creating accounts, requiring parental consent to download apps, and allowing guardians to request deletion of their child’s account.
House Bill 186 has already passed the Texas House with bipartisan support and is now under review by the Senate.
House Bill 186, which has been authored and filed by Republican Texas State Representative Jared Patterson, would prohibit minors from creating accounts on social media sites, such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and more, and require users to verify their ages. Companies would have to comply with the ban by April 2026 or face penalties for deceptive trade practices under state law.
According to a report by Texas Tribune, House Bill 186 would require social media platforms to verify users’ ages before allowing access. It would also allow parents to request the deletion of their child’s social media account, and a company must comply within 10 days.
“Like so many parents across our state, I’ve watched my children grow up in a world that feels less and less safe, not because of where they go physically, but because of where they go online, in spaces that my wife and I cannot possibly monitor at all times,” Senator Adam Hinojosa, co-sponsor of the bill, says according to the Texas Tribune..
If passed, the bill would make Texas the first state in the U.S. to ban anyone under 18 from creating or maintaining social media accounts, potentially becoming the nation’s most restrictive law on minors’ social media use. Currently, Florida is the only other state with such a ban, but it only applies to children under 14, though efforts are underway to extend it to those under 16.
Patterson, who filed the bill, described social media as a public health hazard for minors and likened its spread among teens to the past failure to regulate tobacco.
“After researching and participating in study committees in this body, I firmly believe that social media is the most harmful product that our kids have legal access to in Texas,” Patterson says, according to Lawyers Monthly.
“We didn’t know what we had given to our children over the last decade and a half,” he adds. “We now know. We now have studies that show it is extremely harmful.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
