In 2012, Ted Cruz won the Texas Senate race by campaigning as a “Tea Party” Republican who would take his oath to uphold the Constitution seriously. This meant opposing legislation that intruded on matters the Constitution reserved to the states and the people. For example, Senator Cruz constantly advocated for shutting down the Department of Education and returning control over education to states, local communities, and most importantly—parents. Senator Cruz also understood that raising children is the job of parents, not politicians.
Unfortunately, Senator Cruz has decided that the threat to children posed by social media requires him to set aside his once-staunch support for parental rights. Cruz has joined Hawaiian Senator Brian Schatz in sponsoring the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSA). The bill prohibits social media companies—defined as online platforms that “allow users to create profiles, share content, and view algorithmic feeds”—from permitting anyone under the age of 13 to create an account on their sites. The bill does not apply to commerce sites such as Amazon, educational sites, product review sites, private networks, or YouTube Kids. The bill also conditions a school’s ability to participate in the popular E-Rate funding program, which provides discounted broadband and other services to public schools, on the schools blocking students from accessing social media during the school day.
KOSA is the latest attempt to save the children from the mental and emotional harms inflicted by overconsumption of social media. While there are tragic cases of young people who have been victimized by online bullies and predators—this problem is not one that can be solved by a simple “one size fits all” federal fix.
One of the myths spread by proponents of legislation like KOSA is that children and teenagers who spend significant time online do so at the cost of real world interactions with their peers. A University of Florida study found that children with smartphones are more likely to spend time interacting with their friends than children without smartphones.
Some proponents of government actions to limit minors’ access to social media point to the increase in depression and anxiety among young Americans. For example, 63% of respondents to a survey of college students reported feeling anxious at least half of the time. Blaming this on social media requires ignoring that 2023 was an anxious time for many Americans regardless of age. America was still dealing with the effects of the COVID lockdown, the civil unrest in response to the George Floyd killing and other incidents of police brutality, and the high inflation that accompanied the post-Covid reopening.
Thanks to the COVID, lockdowns had many young people spending the better part of two years isolated from their peers. For many of them, social media offered a way to maintain connections to the outside world. This should show that simply imposing a ban on social media use by minors will not solve the legitimate problem of excessive use of social media by young people. Instead, the decision to when, how much, and what type of social media a child should consume should be made by those who best understand the unique needs of individual children—their parents.
Fortunately, there are many tools available to help parents protect their children from inappropriate content. These tools enable parents to control their child’s first exposure to social media—thus enabling parents to teach their children how to enjoy social media’s benefits without “feeding the trolls.” The provision requiring schools to block social media as a condition of receiving funding from the E-Rate program is an example of how Congress uses the promise of federal grants—paid for with money taken from the American taxpayers—to coerce schools and other beneficiaries of federal funds into obeying federal mandates.
A federal ban on children being able to access social media conflicts with President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s efforts to reduce federal government’s unconstitutional role in education. Like all government interference in the marketplace, KOSA will have unintended consequences. Forbidding children from accessing social media until they are thirteen will make so that when they are able to open their own social media accounts, they will be more likely to fall prey to the negative influences lurking in the shadows of these platforms.
The legislation also further undermines a parent’s right and duty to control what their child is—and isn’t—permitted to view online. Parental control of a child’s upbringing is one of the foundations of a free society. Hopefully, Senator Cruz and other Republicans will remember that they were elected to protect America’s families and local communities from legislation like KOSA—and not join the Democrats in turning Congress and the White House into national nannies.
