Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed into law a bill known as the Mississippi Keeping Kids Safe Online Act. Patterned after laws in California and New Mexico, Mississippi’s version puts more responsibility on social media companies for the products they encourage young people to use.
A story on the Magnolia Tribune website said, for starters, that social media websites must have written permission from parents before a Mississippi minor can legally use the site. Further, platforms that make inaccurate claims about their websites’ safety features can be fined $10,000 by the state.
According to the Tribune, websites that follow the state’s rules and provide parents with a history of their child’s activities on the platform are not liable for damages. But the attorney general’s office can fine a company $10,000 per violation of the law, and parents can go to court to seek damages if their child is repeatedly exposed to pornographic material on a site.
The law is a step worth taking. But the Legislature could have done more to prevent social media companies from letting their products take over the lives of kids.
The most extreme solution — but maybe the most sensible one — would be to ban certain websites from having minors as customers. There is precedent: It is illegal for people under 21, for example, to buy alcohol.
Another possible protection would be to require the companies to have parents set a daily limit on the amount of time their child can spend on a social media platform. The companies even could set limits on their own for young customers, such as one hour per day.
This would seem like a no-brainer. Sensible restrictions would at least give a social media company a defense when the inevitable state investigation or parental lawsuit arrives.
It’s worth noting here that lawmakers were concerned that these companies are writing programs designed to get young people “addicted” to the website. The companies deny this, but enough evidence has come out to show that efforts to keep people on websites for hours at a time are successful, not only for kids but a lot of adults.
It’s part of their business model, and the state is right to do something about it.
Still, let’s see how many families provide written permission for their children to use the sites. And how many clever kids figure a way around this restriction. And especially, how many times the state calls out these companies when they step out of line. That’s how we’ll know whether the law is working.
