The government says the measure, which must be signed into law by the president, will protect minors. Critics worry it will threaten free speech and privacy online.

A growing movement claims social media is “addictive,” and lawmakers are treating it as settled science. But the evidence is far less clear, and the rush to litigate and regulate risks turning a debated concept into sweeping policy.

Bans on social media for minors are having a political moment. Parents’ sincere concerns and politicians’ instincts to capitalize on those fears are driving federal and state legislation like the kind already in effect elsewhere in the world.

"I think the argument for a ban is an admission of failure that we cannot regulate companies, so we can only restrict children," one expert told CNBC.

Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism.

Proposals from on Beacon Hill aimed at curbing social media use among teens have run into a range of practical, constitutional, and security challenges.

Discord, Pinterest, and Quora perform best in new 2025 social media privacy ranking Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and X face penalties for poor privacy protections AI training policies and regulatory fines shape platform standings in this year’s ...

A facial scan on Instagram, a video selfie on TikTok, a thumbprint passcode on YouTube, and an ID upload on Facebook. It’s not the scene yet, but collecting our biometrics to post an AI slop meme will just become the norm as Big Social goes through its ...

The point is, for a lot of people, it really does feel like it’s time to log off, whether that’s setting aside a few days to “touch grass” and check in with yourself, or obliterating a social media account altogether.