Virginia Governor Signs Bill Limiting Minors to 1 Hour of Social Media Per Day

The Brief

• Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has approved an amendment restricting the duration minors can spend on social media platforms.
• The legislation prohibits children younger than 16 years old from using social media platforms for longer than one hour each day.
• We'll have to wait and see how this gets implemented.

VIRGINIA - If you reside in Virginia, the duration your child spends on social media will shortly be restricted by new legislation.

What we know

Governor Glen Youngkin signed an amendment to the Consumer Data Protection Act last Friday prohibiting individuals under the age of 16 from using social media platforms for longer than one hour per day. The amendment also mandates that parents provide verified permission should they wish to adjust this daily usage limit either up or down.

This requires platforms to adopt a neutral stance when requesting someone’s age upon account creation, ensuring that such information is utilized solely for verifying age purposes.

Studies indicate that social media may pose risks for young individuals and could negatively impact their psychological well-being. In fact, Youngkin has labeled it a crisis. Therefore, the primary objective of this legislation is to restrict the amount of time children can use platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

There was substantial backing for it from both parties in the state's General Assembly. However, there are logistical concerns regarding its implementation.

What they're saying

“I’m unsure about its effectiveness. Kids today are quite adept at finding ways around such measures, and I completely get that. For instance, if someone joins as a 12- or 14-year-old but claims to be 25, how would you handle it? Would platforms likely demand ID verification from every user signing up? Probably not,” explained Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information.

"If these platforms are removed, they will simply seek out alternative ones beyond the scope of this legislation, where they can still connect with friends and share information in comparable manners, thus significantly reducing the effectiveness of such measures," Golbeck continued.

This rule doesn't pertain to platforms primarily intended for emails, direct messages, streaming services, or news websites.

What's next

Regarding enforcement, they claim they will sort that out prior to implementation at the start of the upcoming year.