As Australian politicians and industry wade through a new interim report on whether the proposed Social Media age ban can actually be implemented technologically or not, a new bill in the US aimed at prohibiting kids under 13 from using social media and halting personalised algorithms for those under 17 years of age has taken a further step forward via the Senate Commerce Committee.

Yet even as the latest US attempt progresses, the HB 18 Texas law, which took effect last year and requires social media platforms to register users’ ages and restrict certain content and practices if the user is under 18, has been curbed by an Austin Federal Judge.

The US Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) aims to prohibit users who are under age 13 from accessing social media platforms, to prohibit the use of personalized recommendation systems on individuals under age 17, and limit the use of social media in schools.The bill was first introduced by Senator Brian Schatz in April last year and has now been read twice and referred to the US Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Among its key recommendations are that no accounts for children under 13 are provided, with social media platforms also actively terminating existing accounts belonging to children. Deletion of children's personal data - while providing an initial 90 days to reclaim data is also on the recommendation. Rather than ask users to verify age via identification, the bill proposes the platforms use age verification methods for this purpose.

The bill also looks to prohibit the use of personalised recommendation algorithms on children or teens up to the age of 17, as well as call on schools to limit social media on their networks. The bill would give the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general the ability to enforce these rules as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The bill has met with opposition in the industry including from trade association, NetChoice, whose VP of public affairs, Robert Winterton, suggested KOSMA creates serious cybersecurity risks, undermines parental rights and autonomy and violates the US Constitution. NetChoice is back by Meta, Amazon, Google and Snap, among others.

"Government databases are already under constant attack, with breaches at both state and federal levels exposing sensitive personal data. Children, in particular, are prime targets for identity theft, and by mandating widespread data collection, KOSMA would make minors more vulnerable to cyber criminals looking to exploit them and their data," said Winterton.

Yet at the same time as KOSMA continues through the Senate, a federal judge in Austin issued an order Friday temporarily preventing Texas from enforcing even more parts of a 2024 law that regulates how children under 18 can use social media — and Attorney General Ken Paxton promptly appealed the decision.

HB 18 — the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment or SCOPE Act — took effect Sept. 1. It requires social media platforms to make their users register their age, and to restrict what users under 18 see on the sites.

Days before it took effect, though, Judge Robert Pitman of the federal Western District of Texas blocked the parts of the law that enforced "monitoring and filtering" requirements after two trade groups filed a lawsuit. These requirements would make social media platforms track content that "promotes, glorifies, or facilitates" topics like suicide, substance abuse, and grooming and prohibit it for children.

The latest Federal Judge step is reportedly the second successful — albeit temporary — legal challenge to the alleged First Amendment violations of Texas House Bill 18 since it was passed.

Judge Robert Pitman also ruled the law's targeted advertising, content monitoring and age-verification provisions are likely unconstitutional as well.

Meanwhile, the new Australian 'D-2.9 Evaluation Proposal' released last Thursday by the Age Assurance Technology Trial team (AATT) tasked with exploring a way to implement the Federal Government's social media usage ban for children under 16 years of age shows most Australian consumers are sceptical that such a ban will work and think it's an exmaple of short-term thinking, even as they support the principle. Read more here.