RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is calling on state lawmakers to make it harder for children under the age of 18 to use popular social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
“This is not a political issue, this is a child issue and we need to do it,” Youngkin told 8News at an event last week.
Currently, both federal and state laws effectively require social media platforms to get parental consent before allowing anyone under 13 to use their platforms.
However, Youngkin wants to raise the age to 18, saying the current laws don’t do enough to protect kids from the mental health challenges caused by social media.
“We together are going to work to reclaim Virginia’s youths’ childhood,” Youngkin said.
Earlier this year, Democrats rejected the idea, but now Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D-Petersburg), a mother herself, says while she’s open to raising the age, 18 could be a little bit “drastic.”
“I can easily see the difference in the use from my 16-year-old versus the difference in the use from my 12-year-old,” Aird told 8News. “Him putting out their starting point, saying everyone 18 is fine, but I would seriously emphasize that a lot of dialogue needs to continue to happen before we finalize that age.”
Meanwhile, Youngkin says he also wants to make sure social media sites are using technology to actually verify someone’s age.
“This is common sense stuff,” Youngkin said. “Let’s find a way to verify the age of children so people can understand they need to get parental consent to open up a new account so we are working on that and if we need legislation, we will work to get it.”
Aird says that the proposal could get bipartisan support.
“It is dangerous that there really are loose guardrails in place right now that can easily be manipulated,” Aird said.
