Bill restricting social media accounts for children passes Minnesota Senate
A bill meant to protect children on social media is heading to Gov. Tim Walz's desk after passing both the Minnesota House and Senate.
The Minnesota House passed the measure 131-2. The bill passed the Minnesota Senate unanimously with bipartisan support.
Bill authors say data collected from children under age 16 will not be resold and will only be used for age verification. There will be automatic privacy settings, banning ads targeting children, verified parental consent and a strict enforcement of age limits.
"For children who are under 16, it is a huge change when they go on Facebook, or Meta, or Instagram or TikTok, they won't have infinite scroll, they won't have paid advertisements, they won't have automatic video playing and several other addictive features to keep them from getting addicted to this technology," DFL Rep. Andy Smith said.
The bill's Senate authors, DFL Sen. Erin Maye Quade and GOP Sen. Michael Kruen, say it's something parents are desperate for.
"It will give more control to the parents. It will allow for parental consent if you are under 16 to open an account," Kruen said.
"I am so glad that we were able to do this. Minnesota will join 26 other states in protecting kids on social media. It is long past due," Maye Quade said.
If signed into law by the governor, the measure will go into effect in July 2027.
House and Senate leaders continue to be optimistic that an agreement to bail out HCMC, reduce license tab fees and pass a $1.2 billion bonding or infrastructure bill will hold up, and will be passed before the deadline of Sunday night at midnight.
"Clearly, there are some issues going on here at the Capitol," Republican Minority Leader Senator Mark Johnson
said. "I think our legislative leaders are continuing to work and try to figure that out. I am hopeful that we'll see tomorrow at midnight that gavel coming down, 'sine die' with our bills complete."
