REP. PATTERSON HIGHLIGHTS AUSTRALIA’S WORK TO PROTECT MINORS FROM HARMFUL, ADDICTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

(Frisco, TX) – The Australian Government has taken a bold step – effective today – to protect young people from the harmful, addictive social media products ravaging young people in their country and in ours. The rapid rise in teen suicide and access to both explicit content and adult predators is directly attributed to social media use. Through Australia’s Online Safety Amendment to the 2021 Online Safety Act, there is now a nationwide ban on social media for children under the age of 16.

The Australian legislation targets ten specific platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,TikTok, X, and YouTube, along with others popularly used by children and young teens. The law requires platforms to maintain an age verification system to ensure that account holders are of legal age to use their platform. This will differ from platform to platform, but the Australian government has emphasized that proof of age using government-issued IDs should not be necessary as these tech companies are already aware of the age of their users. Now, social media companies are subject to fines reaching as high as $33 million if they are found to be out of compliance with the law.

During the 89th Legislative Session, Representative Jared Patterson (R – Frisco) authored HB 186, aimed to protect vulnerable young Texans by setting age limits and verification requirements on social media companies operating here. With the backing of parents who have lost children to social media influences and experts who have studied the immense dangers posed by social media platforms, the bill passed the Texas House in bipartisan fashion, 116 to 25. The bill also passed the Senate State Affairs Committee before ultimately failing to receive a vote before the entire body. Rep. Patterson noted, “There is no greater threat to our children, no more harmful product our kids have legal access to in Texas than these social media platforms which hook our children on an endless supply of explicit material, dangerous content, and suicidal thoughts. I look forward to picking up this fight next session where we left on in the last – holding Big Tech accountable for the young Texas lives they’re destroying.”

State Representative Jared Patterson is serving his fourth term representing House District 106 in Denton County. Patterson is the Chairman of the Local & Consent Calendars Committee. He also serves on the House Committees on Licensing & Administrative Procedures, Transportation, and the Subcommittee on Transportation Funding. He and his family reside in Frisco.