Lawmakers Crack Down on Social Media as Teens Rethink Screen Time

Kids and tech always seem to be at a crossroads. We rely on technology for education and work, yet it’s often at the center of society’s biggest challenges. Now lawmakers are stepping in, parents are pushing back, and teens are reconsidering how they engage with the digital world. Here’s what’s making headlines this week.

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Senators Renew Efforts to Ban Pre-Teens from Social Media

Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have reintroduced the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA), aiming to prohibit social media platforms from knowingly allowing children under 13 to create accounts.

The bill would also require parental consent for all users under 18, mandate stricter age verification, and ban platforms from using data from users under 17 to algorithmically suggest or promote content.

Additionally, KOSMA would require social media companies to delete any accounts and data from users under 13 and would compel schools to block social media access on school networks in order to maintain certain federal subsidies.

Senators again attempt to ban pre-teens from social media | Engadget

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Meta’s Content Moderation Changes Alarm Child Safety Advocates

The UK’s Molly Rose Foundation has raised alarms over Meta’s decision to scale back content moderation, replacing fact-checkers in the U.S. with a user-driven “community notes” system and revising policies on hate speech and harmful content.

Campaigners worry these changes could lead to increased exposure to suicide and self-harm material, citing the case of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who died after being exposed to thousands of such posts.

The foundation is urging the UK’s Ofcom to strengthen regulations, while Meta maintains that high-severity content will continue to be removed through automated detection systems.

Meta’s content moderation changes ‘hugely concerning’, says Molly Rose Foundation | The Guardian

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American Students’ Reading Proficiency Hits Lowest Level Since 1992

The latest Nation’s Report Card shows slight math improvements since 2022, but scores remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Fourth-graders made modest gains in math, while eighth-grade scores stagnated, with struggling students falling further behind. Reading scores declined again, with eighth-graders hitting their lowest levels in 30 years.

Researchers say these trends began before the pandemic, raising concerns about long-term academic setbacks.

Nearly 5 years after schools closed, the nation gets a new report card | NPR

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Alarming Global Statistic: 1 in 12 Children Face Online Sexual Exploitation

A new study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health finds that one in 12 children worldwide has been exposed to at least one form of online sexual exploitation or abuse.

Researchers identified various forms of abuse, including online grooming, unwanted sexting, image-based abuse, and sexual extortion, with rates increasing to one in six when considering lifetime exposure.

Experts warn that increasing internet access and smartphone use, particularly in developing nations, will likely worsen the problem, emphasizing the need for stronger regulations, education, and platform accountability.

1 in 12 children globally exposed to ‘widespread’ online sexual exploitation or abuse | Euronews

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Teens Try Flip Phones to Cut Screen Time

After losing his smartphone, 14-year-old Ben Cohen-Vigder realized he felt more present without it and decided to switch to a flip phone.

CBS News asked four of his eighth-grade friends to try flip phones for a week, with some reporting better sleep and focus, while others struggled without digital conveniences.

Experts warn that excessive screen time is linked to anxiety and depression in teens, and Ben believes even small changes—like limiting social media to a computer—can make a difference.

We asked four teens to swap their smartphones for flip phones. Here’s what happened. | CBS News

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Other Headlines

• Visitor Management Systems: How Access Control Makes K–12 Schools Safer | EdTech Magazine

• How Utah is protecting kids from social media | Deseret News

• Tablets, screen time aren’t ‘parenting hacks.’ They’re killing kids’ attention spans. | USA Today

• US users dumped RedNote after Trump paused the TikTok ban | TechCrunch

• Why the rich love digital shoplifting | Axios

• I Co-Founded an App That Uses AI — Here’s Why AI Has Me Worried About My Child’s Future | Entrepreneur

• Relationships Are Key to Kids’ Growth — And They’re in Crisis, Expert Says | EdSurge

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Did we miss anything?

Any other important tech news from this week? Let us know in the comments below.