Politicians across the aisle want social media users to submit themselves to biometric scans, increased account monitoring and share their IDs — all in the name of children’s safety online. Bipartisan bills in Congress, like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), and laws across the country are attempting to bar children from social media by requiring age verification to many, if not all users.
Social media apps like Instagram and TikTok have long come under fire for potential harms to children and teens using their platforms. A first-of-a-kind lawsuit against Meta and Google, parent companies of Instagram and Youtube, began trial in Los Angeles Feb. 9, with the plaintiff’s attorney claiming the apps have “engineered addiction in children’s brains.”
