Local parents are responding after the State House passed a bill that would ban Oklahoma kids under the age of 16 from social media.
If passed, kids who are 16 or 17 would need parental consent before creating an account on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
Those at the State Capitol believe it’s a necessary step toward providing security for children online.
How it works:
HB1275 would require social media platforms to use a third-party verification system to verify the age of its users.
Kids who are 16 or 17 years old would need verification from a parent using that same verification process.
It would fine social media companies $2,500 for every user under 16 years old on their platform.
Here are ways the State said a social media company can receive proper age verification for users:
- A digital ID or a digital copy of a state issued driver’s license
- Government issued identification
- “Any commercially reasonable age verification method”
- “Confirmation from a platform from which social media applications are downloaded that the platform has verified the age of the user”
FOX23 spoke with parents in Green Country about their thoughts and reactions to the bill.
Kaleigh and Walter are from Collinsville and have kids near the age range where verification is needed.
“I agree with the sentiment, I’m not certain a bill or a law would fix the gap,” Walter said. “It does help get parents more involved as it does get their kids to at least attempt to ask for permission, so it does get parental involvement. I think parental involvement is an important part in fixing this gap. If I’m a parent, who says my child doesn’t just pick up my wallet and put my ID in? They can do that. It’s not like it’s something kids haven’t done before.”
Kaleigh said she thinks the bill is a step in the right direction, but it’s going to need some fine tuning to actually make things work.
“It’s a good start, but it’s going to depend on what happens when the bill actually is passed,” Kaleigh said. “Our kids wound up on social media in a kind of sneaky way, so I do think kids are going to find a way around it, but also, is it going to be for every social media platform? Is it going to be specific to Facebook, TikTok, or things like Discord? And this is a statewide thing, so that being the case, we’ve had out of state driver’s licenses, so will my out of state license work?”
Niki is a parent of a 12-year-old from Cushing. She told FOX23 her child doesn’t have social media but most of their friends do.
“I’m all for holding these platforms accountable, but not at the expense of my parental rights of deciding when my child is ready for social media and when they’re not,” Niki said. “For me, personally as a parent, I think that it strips the parental rights from the parent when the state comes in and tries to tell you at what age your child should be able to use social media platforms. I do think there needs to be some safeguards put in place to make the platforms safer, but I do think as a parent it should be my right to determine when they’re ready to take on the social media world.”
FOX23 compiled some of the questions sent to us by parents and emailed them to the bill’s author, State Rep. Chad Caldwell (R-Enid). He responded just an hour later. Here is his full response to our questions:
1. Will there be any barriers put in place for someone using a VPN to get around the law?
Caldwell: “As the bill is currently written, there is no way to stop people from breaking the law regarding the use of a VPN. It can be difficult to stop people from breaking laws, however, we are looking at putting additional guardrails that would prevent VPN use to get around the law.”
2. Will there be any punishment for people or is it only the social media companies?
Caldwell: “The only punishments in the bill are directed toward social media companies.”
3. Will this verification process still work for parents with out of state ID’s?
Caldwell: “Yes, this process will still work because there are no requirements for State ID’s to be used. That is just one of the avenues that social media companies can use to meet this requirement.”
4. What happens to the social media accounts already operated by minors under 16?
Caldwell: “Upon passage of the bill, each user will have to go through the verification process. If they are found to be under 16, then they would be prohibited from using the social media accounts.”
The bill will now go before the State Senate for further approval. It will also need the signature by the governor before it becomes law.
Here’s the full bill authored by State Rep. Chad Caldwell (R-Enid):
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