Kids under 13 would be barred from social media under bipartisan Senate bill

The majority of teens say they use social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube at least once a day, according to a recent survey. Some say they use the sites constantly and that quitting social media altogether would be difficult. (AP)

A bipartisan group of senators announced a new piece of legislation this week geared towards protecting children from aspects of social media they say are contributing to the mental health crisis impacting America's youth.

The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would set the minimum age of social media users to 13. For teens between the ages of 13 and 18, parental consent would be required, and platforms would be banned from using algorithms to recommend content to those young users. Adults would have to create an account for their teens, providing a valid form of ID to become users on a platform, according to the bill.