Nebraska social media age-verification bill moves forward
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Democratic-allied lawmakers described the bill as government overreach and said it likely would face lawsuits, while supporters of the proposal said it would help address a mental health crisis among young people.
This story was originally published by the Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — A bill requiring age verification for social media accounts in Nebraska advanced to the second round of debate with a 38-2 vote.
The bill from freshman State Sen. Tanya Storer of Whitman, a priority for Gov. Jim Pillen, would prohibit Nebraskans from creating social media accounts without verifying their age after next year.
Democratic-allied lawmakers described the bill as government overreach and said it likely would face lawsuits, while supporters of the proposal said it would help address a mental health crisis among young people.
Storer, during the two-day floor debate this week, attempted to differentiate Legislative Bill 383 from a recent Arkansas law that a federal judge deemed unconstitutional this month. She said her Nebraska proposal is more like laws in Tennessee and Florida, which remain in place.
“I’m not waiting. I’m not going to sit here and wait. Well, we lose more kids to suicide, depression and anxiety,” Storer said.
Lawmakers have heard similar bills this week aimed at social media limits, and the same concerns were raised over violating the First Amendment. The bill requires social media companies to let parents view all posts and messages from their minor’s account, control privacy settings and limit the minor’s usage of the platform.
The legislation mandates that social media platforms implement a process enabling parents to withdraw consent for their child to maintain an account. Once consent is revoked, the platform must delete the child’s account and prevent them from creating a new one until parental consent is restored.
“Fundamentally, my problem with a lot of these things is that we run the risk of making it harder for people to engage in their First Amendment rights,” State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha said. “I’m very concerned about requiring adults to prove their age to use the internet or use these social media sites.
Storer emphasizes the importance of addressing youth mental health, referencing former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s public warning about the risks of social media to young people in 2023.
“I assure you that minors’ rights to privacy in regards to parental oversight are not being violated,” Storer said. “The impact of social media on youth mental health and safety, quite frankly, is not up for debate anymore. The facts are out. The evidence is clear.”
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said on the first day of debate that if lawmakers are going to “invoke suicide of children to pass sweeping legislation that strips rights and chills speech and increases government intervention” they should bring the same energy for Queer and Trans youth. She was alluding to a Legislative Bill 89 from Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha that seeks to define “male” and “female” in state law that, among other things, would restrict student-athlete participation and bathroom use by sex at birth.
“We have lost lives in Nebraska since the passage of Senator Kathleen [Kauth]’s bill, two years ago,” Hunt said.
Kauth’s “Let Them Grow Act,” which was signed into law in 2023, banned transgender minors from receiving some gender-affirming care. Hunt wasn’t on the floor for the Friday vote.
The Nebraska attorney general would enforce the act, which allows for penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation.
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