Teens Vulnerable to Social Media Harm, Exploitation, TMA Tells Legislators
By Jessica Ridge

An interim legislative committee exploring the effects of social media on minors heard harrowing personal contributions from panelists including the Texas Medical Association in the service of one goal – keeping kids safe as they navigate the minefield of social media. 

Abuse and exploitation, manipulation through targeted advertising, and adverse mental and physical health effects are among the risks kids with unfettered access to social media face, the panel testified. With federal protections like the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act yet to be enacted, panelists detailed for the committee how state lawmakers have an opportunity to put Texas at the vanguard of protecting youth online by: 

• Setting an age of consent of 18 for unsupervised use of social media; 

• Restricting data-mining;  

• Facilitating research into the mental health impacts of social media;  

• Disseminating resources to help children and families build healthy relationships with technology; and  

• Holding social media companies accountable for their platforms’ addictive design. 

Lindy McGee, MD, a Houston pediatrician and chair of TMA’s Committee on Child and Adolescent Health, delivered several of those recommendations at the hearing, which dovetail with TMA’s policy on the impact of social media platforms on the health of children and adolescents. 

“We appreciate the legislature’s initial step with House Bill 18, the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, passed last session. This act requires technology and social media companies to offer specific data protections for minors, restrict access to harmful content, and equip parents with tools to manage their child’s use of these services. However, a legal challenge by tech industry groups has diluted this bill’s effectiveness,” Dr. McGee told the committee.  

The Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice sued last year to block the law, and a temporary ruling from a federal district court has since temporarily blocked the law’s provision that social media companies filter harmful content from minors’ feeds.  

TMA’s written testimony to the committee reiterated policy recommendations articulated last fall: setting restrictions on data-mining of minors, promoting healthy technology use, and holding social platforms accountable for intentionally addictive design. 

The January testimony newly communicated concerns about the longer-term physical health implications of social media use and protracted screen time, as well as the need for data on the integration of artificial intelligence into tech algorithms’ input and outcomes. 

The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health estimates that up to 95% of 13-17-year-olds use social media. One-third of teenagers report using it “almost constantly,” a troubling metric given that research in JAMA Psychiatry  suggests children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems. 

Among those risks, “teenage brains are primed for addiction,” Dr. McGee said, describing how the synaptic pruning that occurs in adolescent brains renders them more susceptible to the high-dopamine hits of likes, shares, comments, and other feedback mechanisms on social media posts. 

Additionally, one of Dr. McGee’s patients, having searched for healthy eating tips, developed an eating disorder after reading dangerous guidance promoted by the algorithm.  The phenomenon is known as a filter bubble, in which haphazard personalized algorithms amplify harmful content.  

Snapchat, X, Meta, and TikTok submitted statements to the committee, each declining to testify at the hearing. 

To protect young patients, physicians can point parents to resources that promote healthy use of technology, such as guidelines and reports developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association. 

In its written testimony, TMA commends the legislature’s “commitment to safeguarding minors’ mental and developmental health” and advocates further action “swiftly and decisively to protect children and adolescents from harm.” 

Keep abreast of TMA’s state advocacy efforts at the association’s dedicated webpage.