88R11184 BPG-D
 
  By: Patterson H.C.R. No. 46
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, Scores of experts have warned the U.S. Congress
  about the pressing need to protect children and adolescents from
  social media harms; and
         WHEREAS, Over the course of five hearings, the Senate
  Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data
  Security received abundant testimony about the severe impacts
  social media platforms can have on brain development and mental
  health; problems noted by experts include hazardous substance use,
  eating disorders, bullying, anxiety, depression, and self-harm;
  Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen provided a trove of the company's
  internal research showing that its products have negative impacts
  on children, especially teenage girls, and that the company
  downplayed this troubling information and made but minimal efforts
  to mitigate damage; she implored Congress to take action; and
         WHEREAS, In a June 2022 letter, American Psychological
  Association Services, Mental Health America, and more than 100
  other organizations told the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,
  Science, and Transportation that the growing mental health crisis
  among America's youth is exacerbated by social media platforms
  designed in ways that increase exposure to harmful content and
  encourage unhealthy patterns of use; adolescence involves
  neurological changes that promote cravings for social attention,
  feedback, and status, the letter stated, and young users can find it
  difficult to abstain from social media, even when they recognize
  that it is making them feel terrible about themselves; and
         WHEREAS, The internet is a comparatively new form of media,
  and during its short history, Congress has struggled to understand
  the full breadth of its impact and determine how best to prevent
  negative consequences; though it aimed to safeguard those under the
  age of 13 with the passage of the Children's Online Privacy
  Protection Act of 1998, Congress has yet to address the many issues
  that have arisen in the intervening quarter century; and
         WHEREAS, Crafting legislation to prevent children from
  accessing harmful content has proven a particularly challenging
  endeavor, given the need to accommodate First Amendment concerns;
  laws targeting specific categories of speech based on content are
  subject to the exacting "strict scrutiny" standard of judicial
  review, and the courts have previously struck down as
  unconstitutional statutes seeking to criminalize the provision of
  harmful internet content to minors; however, federal case law does
  recognize certain circumstances in which Congress may restrict
  children's access to particular types of information, depending on
  such factors as existence of a demonstrable harm and assurances
  that any restriction does not encumber more constitutionally
  protected speech than is necessary; and
         WHEREAS, When social media platforms fail to take
  responsibility for the harms they cause, it is incumbent upon
  lawmakers to step in, and although balancing legal protections with
  First Amendment considerations will require extreme delicacy, the
  health, safety, and well-being of children and adolescents are too
  important to leave to the vagaries of algorithms designed to
  protect profits, not children; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to pass
  legislation to protect children from the harms of social media;
  and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
  the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the
  Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
  Texas delegation to the Congress with the request that this
  resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
  memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.