> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.newbostonpost.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Massachusetts House Ways and Means Chair Backs Social Media Limits for Kids - URL: https://www.newbostonpost.com/massachusetts-house-ways-and-means-chair-backs-social-media-limits-for-kids/ - Published: 2026-04-07T14:30:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-04-07T14:30:33.000Z - Description: House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz is backing a proposal to ban social media for children under 14 and require parental consent for teen users. - Author: State House News Service - Tags: News, Politics, State Government, #most-popular Ella Adams State House News Service With its new plans to restrict youth social media access, the House is jumping into waters that have been legally fraught in states across the country. The House bill marked for possible passage Wednesday [would prohibit](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/legislature/house/house-plans-vote-to-ban-social-media-use-for-children-under-14/article%5F8417767e-bee8-4644-9a04-49f84e9f382a.html?ref=newbostonpost.com) social media use for children under 14, require platforms to obtain parental consent for users ages 14 and 15, and ban students from using cellphones in schools. Should the bill go to conference committee as anticipated, the Senate would have to determine whether to go along with the social media aspect of the proposal, which was not addressed in a bill (S 2581) that cleared the Senate in July [38-2](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/legislature/senate/sessions/senate-session-summary---thursday-july-31-2025/article%5Fe6c55532-92f6-404a-b7c1-adefbde36126.html?ref=newbostonpost.com) and which would ban cellphones for students throughout the school day. "There's a number of states that have done this. They all have done it differently. We are probably more in line with closer to what Florida has done," Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz told reporters. He and House Speaker Ron Mariano said the social media restrictions would be "among the most restrictive in the entire country." Lawmakers across the country have pointed to the negative mental health impacts of social media on youth. In a landmark social media addiction trial in March, a Los Angeles jury [found Meta and YouTube liable](https://apnews.com/article/social-media-meta-youtube-instagram-trials-aa1d936fca51c67478db7bc5b08d1c45?ref=newbostonpost.com) for harms to youth using their platforms, according to the Associated Press. A New Mexico jury [also recently found](https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-new-mexico-trial-28eabd8ec5f58c1d1ecddc21bb107de7?ref=newbostonpost.com) that Meta violated state law by knowingly harming children's mental health. Michlewitz said the House has been paying attention to the conversations happening across the country, but that it has been working on the issue "for months previous." "It's hard to compute, like, where do we stand vis-a-vis other states, because there's been different wrinkles in each of these bills that have gone through different legislatures across the country," Michlewitz said. The industry has challenged social media age verification laws. Tech trade association NetChoice has argued on several occasions that the laws violate First Amendment rights. "This bill will in effect require online services to collect Digital IDs, which will do two things: block lawful speech and create massive security risks that lead to data breaches. Digital identity verification laws make everyone more vulnerable online, especially kids," NetChoice Vice President of Government Affairs Amy Bos said in a statement about the social media provisions of the House bill. "These one-size-fits-none regimes that block protected speech online have no place in America. Massachusetts lawmakers should empower parents with real tools, not impose bans that will do more harm than good to families," Bos continued. Michlewitz said that while some states have proposed more restrictive bans, others like Mississippi have implemented parental consent requirements up to 18 years old. The Mississippi law includes a requirement that users verify their age before using certain social media sites. The U.S. Supreme Court did not intervene in a lower court decision that affirmed the law last August, [per NPR reporting](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5482925/scotus-netchoice?ref=newbostonpost.com), allowing it to go into effect. A law in Florida -- which prevents children under 14 from opening accounts on certain social media platforms and requires parental consent for kids aged 14 and 15 -- is still being challenged two years after lawmakers passed it. After a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction to block the law, the state appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That was challenged by tech industry groups including NetChoice, [State Affairs Florida reported](https://pro.stateaffairs.com/fl/news/florida-social-media-law-appeal?ref=newbostonpost.com), and while it could take months for the appeals court to rule, a different panel of the appeals court in November decided that the law could be enforced during the appeal process. "We feel that this bill is the right thing to be doing right now in the age that we're living in and related to how aggressive these conversations have been, particularly for kids, we know that there have been some legal challenges on certain elements of certain bills across the country," Michlewitz said when asked if he's expecting or preparing for lawsuits from social media companies should the bill become law. In Louisiana, a federal judge [ruled in December](https://lailluminator.com/2025/12/18/louisiana-social-media-2/?ref=newbostonpost.com) that a 2023 age verification law for social media was unconstitutional; Attorney General Liz Murrill said she would appeal the ruling. A federal judge last April permanently [blocked](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/16/judge-permanently-blocks-ohios-parental-consent-law-for-social-media/82311878007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z1140xxp000650c000650e1140xxv003353d--51--b--51--&gca-ft=221&gca-ds=sophi&ref=newbostonpost.com) an Ohio law that required children under 16 to get parental consent for social media use. California lawmakers are considering related legislation, and litigation has also surrounded age verification laws in Arkansas and Georgia. "We think it's the right thing to do. We think we are on solid ground", Michlewitz said. "We hope that once this bill passes, it'll stand up through any legal challenges." Gov. Maura Healey announced after the House rolled out its proposal Monday that she'll hold a press conference Tuesday "to announce new legislation to establish strong protections for teens on social media and create safer online experiences for young people across Massachusetts," after [previewing](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/executive/healey-leans-into-affordability-issues-trump-in-annual-address/article%5F3f734671-0bcd-4ef9-8c34-b37df523e2ce.html?ref=newbostonpost.com) it in her State of the Commonwealth address. Healey is also a major proponent of the technology companies and artificial intelligence growth that have made Massachusetts a tech hub. Senate President Karen Spilka spokesperson Gray Milkowski wrote in a statement that Spilka "applauds the House for joining the Senate in recognizing" school cellphone bans as a priority for classrooms, and said Spilka "is excited to review their proposal protecting children from social media." Asked how lawmakers plan to regulate the social media restrictions, Michlewitz leaned on the attorney general's role in implementation. "We leave a lot of it up to the AG, you know, in terms of regulations on exactly how to actually institute that, because, frankly, this is a moving target related to the social media conversation. We want to make sure that regulations, as opposed to putting it in statute, will allow that flexibility," Michlewitz said. The proposal would require the attorney general to create regulations to implement the social media policy no later than Sept. 1, 2026\. The policy would go into effect on Oct. 1, 2026, according to the bill. Michlewitz said the goal was to try to get the regulations implemented before the next school year starts. Michlewitz said the House doesn't have "a definitive fiscal note yet" on the bill. "We'll probably institute that if we have to through a budgetary process later on," Michlewitz said.