Va.’s plan to restrict social media for minors faces pushback and calls for tighter safeguards

This article was originally published by Virginia Mercury.

As Virginia moves to limit social media access for minors under 16, a national child safety group is urging Gov. Glenn Youngkin to strengthen protections for families navigating the digital world.

The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) is calling on the governor to make parental controls more accessible and user-friendly as he reviews recently passed legislation aimed at addressing the growing concerns over social media’s impact on children’s well-being.

“We really want families to have these conversations about how much time you should be spending on certain apps and engaging the entire family in these online discussions about your digital lives,” said Marissa Edmund, policy specialist at FOSI, a non-profit organization focused on making the internet safer for kids and their families.

Edmund said FOSI applauds Virginia’s efforts to prioritize children’s online safety, emphasizing that policy decisions should be rooted in evidence and research. Among the group’s key recommendations: integrating digital media literacy and ensuring that parents can implement uniform safety settings across all devices and apps.

Youngkin has yet to indicate whether he will push for changes to the proposal. Before his departure, spokesman Christian Martinez said the governor is currently reviewing 917 bills passed by the General Assembly, noting that “it’s common that during this time, hundreds of stakeholders write letters seeking action.”

Last November, Youngkin launched Reconsidering Childhood, a statewide initiative aimed at reducing excessive screen time and protecting children from social media addiction. The campaign encourages Virginians to pledge a 25% reduction in their time spent on smart devices this year.

The Legislation

Senate Bill 854, sponsored by Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, aims to curb excessive screen time by limiting  minors to one hour of social media use per service per day while giving parents the ability to adjust that cap. It also includes provisions to ensure that data collected for age verification is used solely for that purpose.

A separate, stricter measure introduced by Del. Josh Thomas, D-Prince William, sought to require parental consent for minors to access “addictive” feeds, which generate content recommendations based on user activity. That bill, however, failed in the House General Laws Communications Subcommittee. Thomas said he was concerned that social media algorithms could expose children to content they had not intentionally sought out, making parental involvement necessary.

Social media companies pushed back, arguing  that such regulations could reduce the relevance of content for minors while placing an unreasonable burden on parents. Some companies have pointed to existing parental control tools that already allow families to limit what children see online.

VanValkenburg’s current bill leaves out addictive feed restrictions, a provision that was included in a similar measure he proposed last year. Instead, it focuses on the responsibilities and prohibitions placed on social media companies, particularly it comes to verifiable parental consent and age verification.

His 2024 bill never made it out of the House General Laws Subcommittee, largely due to concerns from lawmakers and technology industry representatives about how companies would comply with the law without clear guidelines or penalties.

The Virginia Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) later examined the issue and found that existing age verification laws are “ineffective” in protecting children from harmful content. A report from the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) noted that these laws often fail to uphold their intended purpose.

Virginia’s efforts are part of a growing national debate over online safety for minors, with more than 40 states introducing or passing laws aimed at strengthening protections on social media or adult content websites.

According to the ICMEC study, 19 states now require websites that host a significant amount of mature content to verify the ages of users before granting access, while 27 states have enacted laws requiring social media companies to confirm the ages of users and adjust the online experience for minors.

Some of these laws mandate verifiable parental guardian consent before a child can download an app or place restrictions on content algorithms that promote addictive engagement.

ICMEC has raised concerns that such laws also create data privacy risks, forcing users to submit personal information across multiple platforms and increasing the likelihood of data breaches and misuse. The organization also cited constitutional challenges related to protected speech and described enforcement on a per-platform basis as “infeasible.”

Despite these concerns, JCOTS still recommended the proposal to the General Assembly, suggesting that lawmakers define key social media features —   such as infinite scrolling and autoplay — to better understand how such policies could impact the Office of the Attorney General.

VanValkenburg’s latest bill has incorporated expanded definitions and includes feedback from Virginia’s chief prosecutor to address some of these concerns. While the final version of the legislation is not exactly what he originally envisioned, VanValkenburg said the revised bill still accomplishes its intended goal.

“What we have now is a slightly different bill that I think gets to the same purposes, maybe not exactly like I wanted to, but I think it actually is substantive and does a good job,” VanValkenburg said during his return to the House General Laws subcommittee in February.

The bill now awaits Youngkin’s decision. He has until later this month to either amend or approve the legislation as written.