Democrats propose limiting kids’ time on social media to 1-hour daily per platform

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Democrats are taking aim at kids who they claim are spending too much time online.

“There is one example where a young lady took her own life and when they looked back on her social media, she had viewed over 2,000 hours of self-harm content,” said Del. Josh Thomas (D-Prince William) at a press conference Tuesday.

The House of Delegates has amended a Senate bill that would require social media sites to limit minors under 16 to one hour per day per platform.

“I think this is a welcome development that we’re at least making some progress on," Del. Mark Earley (R-Chesterfield) told 8News. "In my mind, it’s too late and not enough."

Democrats have highlighted the amended bill as a compromise to try and protect kids online. 

However, some Republicans say the bill doesn’t go far enough because it doesn’t require social media platforms to get parental consent before collecting kids’ data to create a more personalized experience, which they argue is addictive.

“You could still have your own accounts, it’s just they can’t collect your data and, of course, that’s what they want to do. So, if they are going to do that, parents need to know what’s happening,” Sen. David Suetterlein (R-Roanoke) told 8News.

However, Democratic Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-Henrico) says the bill does include parents because they’ll be able to sign off on giving their kids more or less time than the one-hour default set by the bill.

“The kid says, 'Hey, I have only got an hour' and the parent can say 'Okay, we think that’s appropriate,' or, 'Hey, we actually think that’s too much,' or, 'Hey we think that’s too little,'” VanValkenburg said. 

However, Suetterlein remains skeptical. 

“An app saying one hour -- I don’t know if that really makes a big difference if they just move from one device to another,” Suetterlein said.

The bill still needs to pass the full House of Delegates before it heads back to the Senate. If the full Senate agrees to the House’s changes, it will head to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk for his consideration.