A brand new Nebraska legislation desires to make social media much less addictive for teenagers

Nebraska is the newest state to crack down on how children can use social media. The state’s governor, Jim Pillen, not too long ago signed into legislation a package deal of payments geared toward limiting sure social media options that preserve children hooked on the platform. The ultimate invoice signed, known as the Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act, would require firms to supply cut-off dates on utilization, limit sure classes of content material and supply chronological feeds as an alternative of algorithmic ones that promote infinite scrolling.

The Age-Applicable On-line Design Code Act, often known as LB504, particulars that social media firms can solely accumulate the minimal quantity of non-public information from youthful customers, and presents mother and father extra instruments to restrict how their youngsters use their accounts. Together with these restrictions, the legislation prohibits any advertisements associated to playing, alcohol, tobacco or medicine from reaching children on social media.

Alongside LB504, the signed package deal of payments contains LB140 that limits scholar use of smartphones in faculties, LB383 that requires social media firms to confirm the age of its customers and require parental consent for creating accounts, and LB172 that creates prison penalties for AI-generated pornography.

“Collectively, all these payments have an unimaginable influence on serving to our lecturers and giving our faculties the chance to show our children, as an alternative of being disrupted within the classroom,” Pillen mentioned in a press launch. “Additionally they present mother and father with the instruments they should shield our children from massive tech on-line firms and predators.”

The legislation is ready to enter impact January 1, 2026, and any firms that violate these new laws will face civil penalties. Nebraska is the newest state to limit social media utilization for minors, however Texas can also be making an attempt to move a similar ban. With extra efforts to control social media, NetChoice, an Web advocacy group whose members embrace Google, Meta and X, has voiced criticism of those states’ efforts, arguing that they infringe on First Modification rights and person privateness. In 2022, California signed a similar law meant to guard underage customers, nevertheless it has since been in a legal battle following a lawsuit filed by NetChoice that claims a violation of free speech rights.