South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that his office has joined a coalition of 27 states and Washington, D.C., in filing a legal brief supporting Florida’s law designed to protect children from the harmful effects of social media.
“Social media companies know their products are addictive and destructive to children’s mental health,” said Attorney General Wilson. “They have engineered these platforms with the same tactics used by tobacco companies, keeping kids glued to screens while depression, anxiety, and self-harm skyrocket. Parents are fighting a battle they cannot win alone. States must step in to protect the next generation.”
The legal brief outlines concerns about excessive social media use among teens, citing increases in depression, anxiety, sleep issues, and suicidal thoughts. The document states that it is the responsibility of states to address these harms. Florida’s law requires parental consent for minors under 16 and aims to limit features such as autoplay and infinite scroll that can keep children engaged for extended periods.
The group of attorneys general calls for reversing a lower court decision that stopped Florida from enforcing its law. They argue that the regulation targets platform features rather than speech itself and claim existing solutions like parental controls have not been effective against companies with significant resources dedicated to maximizing user engagement.
States joining South Carolina in this effort include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
The full legal brief is available online.
