GOP Lawmaker Introduces Bill Blocking Children Under 16 From Using Social Media

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) delivers remarks during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 21, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a pair of measures that would mandate social media companies to meet several requirements before they are allowed to offer accounts to Americans on their platforms.

The first proposal (pdf), titled “Making Age-Verification Technology Uniform, Robust, and Effective Act,” or the “MATURE Act,” would impose a minimum age requirement of 16 for all social media users in the United States.