The Oklahoma Senate Judiciary Committee listens to a presentation for an interim study on social media regulations to protect children online at the Capitol in Oklahoma City on Oct. 17. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma senators on Thursday discussed regulations on social media to protect children online.
The Oklahoma Senate Judiciary Committee heard multiple presentations during the the interim study about the dangers of social media for children, including presentations from psychologists, law enforcement and youth services groups.
“Hopefully we can have some policy move forward and on something that will protect our children and vulnerable that’s subject to the marketing practices that we’re seeing and redeveloped by social media companies,” said Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, committee chairman.
Stoni Fortney, a licensed psychologist at Moore Autism Center, said social media can bring benefits to children, such as resiliency and a greater ability to respond to negativity and conflict. However, she told lawmakers that it can encourage unhealthy behaviors like eating disorders.
She said teenagers are often online for hours at a time because of a fear of missing out.
“They feel they have to keep up with all these different accounts,” she said. “Every minute they’re offline, they’re missing something, because again, 95% of teens are online … You’re not maybe going to understand the comments that were made, or be able to participate in a certain conversation. And teens already have a fear, as many people do, of missing out or being left out.”
Blaine Phillips is a special agent in the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit with Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. He said Oklahoma received over 9,000 “cyber tips” related to internet child exploitation in 2023, with that number set to increase in 2024.
He said predators are present on all social media and internet platforms. Ways to reduce child exploitation includes parents staying informed on the dangers of social media, keeping devices out of bedrooms, determining a safe age for children to be online and staying “nosey” about what a child is doing online.
“I have a 10-year-old daughter, and she wants nothing more than to have her own phone and all the social media accounts,” Phillips said. “… This is a very real thing for her, but unfortunately, I feel her safety is more important than her fear.”
Phillips said his unit works with schools, parents, community and faith groups and “anyone who will listen” to inform them on how to protect themselves and children online.
Robert Carlson, senior assistant attorney general, said the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office is currently involved in litigation with Meta, the platform that runs Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other online platforms.
He told lawmakers that Meta has “knowingly designed features on their platform to entice children to get online, and then stay online.”
Carlson said these practices from social media companies can harm the development of a child’s brain, something repeated by other presenters.
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