Hours of doom scrolling social media will have a time limit starting in 2026 for anyone under the age of 16.
A new Virginia law that goes into effect Jan. 1 requires social media companies to limit kids’ usage to one hour each day.
News4 spoke with a 17-year-old named Herman, with his parents standing beside him, because he says on one hand social media is, in his opinion, the greatest development in the 21st century, but he’s also personally felt a harmful downside.
“I’ve been exposed to a lot on social media and I’ve learned to restrict myself and I think it’s very healthy,” he said.
The new law requires social media companies to verify the ages of account holders, and anyone under 16 will be restricted to just one hour each day on apps like Instagram or TikTok.
Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta has a page that explains its age verification process.
A group that lobbies on behalf of social media companies is trying to stop the law. The group is called NetChoice and it filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia just last month. It makes a few arguments: One, it claims that the law is a violation of social media companies’ First Amendment rights, and it also claims the law is too broad and doesn’t point to any specific harms that social media might cause kids.
“Everybody knows that social media is an issue,” psychiatrist Dr. Aeva Doomes told News4.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory about the impacts of social media on teens. While it found some benefits, it also found that “adolescents who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.”
Doomes says she’s seen the effects first hand in patients.
“Clinically, there’s a reason for this law, right? I don’t necessarily know that this law is going to be the solution to this, but I think it’s a starting point for a conversation,” she said.
The law gives parents the option of using parental controls to extend their kids’ time beyond the one hour time limit.
News4 reached out to Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta for comment but has not heard back.
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