Minnesota bill would bar under‑15s from big social media

Minnesota lawmakers are debating a bipartisan bill that would force major social media platforms to use their own age‑estimation algorithms to block users under 15 by default, unless a parent explicitly grants access. Authored by Rep. Peggy Scott (R–Andover), the proposal targets platforms with at least $1 billion in global ad revenue — effectively sites like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, X and possibly Reddit — and is being sold as a way to turn the same data‑mining tools used for ad targeting toward limiting youth addiction. If parents opt their kids in, the bill would still strip away targeted commercial ads and "addictive" design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay video and public like counts for those youth accounts. Supporters cite the 2023 Minnesota Student Survey showing nearly 20% of high‑schoolers are on social media between midnight and 5 a.m., while opponents warn the law could cut vulnerable teens off from online support networks and organizing spaces they rely on. For Twin Cities families, this is a direct fight over who controls kids’ online lives — the platforms, the state, or parents — and whether the Legislature is comfortable hard‑coding Silicon Valley’s own surveillance tech into state law as the enforcement mechanism.