A proposed Massachusetts ban on social media use for children under 14 is gaining support from Worcester-area residents who say the restrictions could help reduce screen time and encourage healthier habits among young people.
The Massachusetts House voted, 129-25, earlier this month on a bill that would ban social media use for anyone under 14. Representatives rewrote a measure passed by the Senate last year and sent it back to the upper chamber for further consideration.
According to the proposed bill, the ban would “require social media companies to implement an age verification system,” require platforms to terminate the accounts of users under 14 and publicly post information about those systems.
Platforms that violate the regulations would be subject to civil fines.
The form of verification is not specified in the bill. Companies use a variety of methods, including submitting official documents, using mobile phone records and facial analysis algorithms to estimate a user’s age.
That concerns some organizations, including Fight for the Future, which said in a statement that it worries about the impact on the LGBTQ+ community.
“There is no safe way for companies to verify the age of every user,” the statement said, citing a Politico article detailing concerns computer scientists have with the checks.
Fight for the Future said the path forward is to “work closely with civil liberties and human rights experts.” The organization said the bill includes positive aspects but requires “significant changes to avoid doing more harm than good.”
After the bill passed the House, Gov. Maura Healey proposed a bill she calls “social media protections for teens.” According to Healey, the proposal “takes away the power from social media and gives it back to parents and young people.”
The governor’s bill would place restrictions on features already widely used by children. It would disable features for minors such as autoplay, which continuously presents content to a user, and infinite scrolling, in which additional content appears at the bottom of a social media feed.
The measures “are designed to reduce harmful online experiences, support healthier digital habits, and give families more control over how young people engage with social media,” Healey said in a press release, adding that the proposal builds on efforts she began in 2021 when she co-led a nationwide investigation into Instagram’s effect on young users.
“As Attorney General, it is my job to protect young people from these harms,” she said at the time.
The proposals come amid broader efforts to protect children from the harms of social media.
Tyler Brondyk, co-founder of Athletic Futsal, Worcester’s first youth-oriented futsal club, as well as Roots Soccer Academy, sees social media’s effect on children both on and off the field.
“Everything is instant,” he said. “We live in a world of instant gratification, especially with social media.”
As a coach, Brondyk said he hopes to train young athletes to develop patience and self-control.
“I want my players to be able to exercise self-control and patience, especially when something doesn’t go their way,” he said.
Brondyk generally favors stricter limits on social media use, though he believes parents ultimately have the greatest influence over their children’s habits.
“There are parents who own and run a soccer account for their children in the hope that they will become famous off it. Once they get tired of running the account,” he said, “some decide to give the login to their children.”
He said he worries that behavior will continue even if stricter regulations are enacted.
Stacie Bancroft, a behavioral analyst and owner of Growing Joy Consulting, said she is also concerned about the effects of social media and screen time on children.
Her work focuses on helping children and families “create behavioral systems that work with people.”
“One of the biggest challenges is screen time,” she said. “It is one of, if not the top concern that I see parents come in with. Most of the parents list screen time as one of their most significant issues.”
Bancroft cited studies on the effects of social media, including one from the National Institutes of Health titled “The contribution of social media addiction to adolescent LIFE: Social appearance anxiety,” which found that 24.4% of 1,363 adolescents surveyed were addicted to social media.
She said the issue is particularly difficult for modern parents because they are the first generation navigating these challenges.
“They can’t learn from their parents,” she said, “because they never had to deal with this kind of problem.”
As a behavioral specialist, Bancroft said that “so much of what is learned in childhood comes from going outside, playtime, and engaging with peers.”
She said social media and screen time take away from those experiences, contributing to social and emotional deficits among children.
To Bancroft, the proposed social media ban is “a light guardrail.”
“I don’t expect it to be a miracle,” she said. “But I expect that it will open up the conversation more and empower parents to parent in a way that allows their children to be safe on social media.”
She said the bill would not replace a parent’s responsibility to keep children safe online. Instead, she sees it as an opportunity for parents to help children discover activities beyond screens.
“This is a moment to encourage them to develop a love for the other things that can bring them joy in life,” she said.
Being outside, riding bikes, playing board games, reading books and talking with friends were among the alternatives she suggested.
Kelly Alberts, a mother of four and teacher of young children, agreed, asking: “If we’re changing the laws and limiting children’s screen time, what are we putting in place?”
“Children need to be allowed to go outside, ride bikes, have the freedom to go around the corner and play a pickup game,” she said.
Alberts said she worries children could simply replace social media with other forms of screen use.
“Even as an adult, if I try to cut social media out of my routine, I find myself using other apps. I find myself checking my email more often or using random apps that I haven’t opened in a long time,” she said.
She believes community groups will play an important role in helping children develop hobbies away from screens.
“That’s the next step,” she said. “If I’m the only parent whose children are not on social media, it’s just not going to work.”
