A new Tennessee bill will require social media companies to verify the age of an individual creating an account and would require express consent from a parent or guardian for a minor to create an account.
Senate Bill 2097, the Protecting Children from Social Media Act, pass the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and will next head to the full Senate.
“The evidence is clear: social media has harmful effects for children, teens and young adults,” said Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin. “Oftentimes young children create social media accounts without their parent’s knowledge or consent. The unsupervised use of social media by children is not only inappropriate but can be potentially harmful to those children.”
The bill comes from Gov. Bill Lee’s office and would go into effect Jan. 1, 2025.
