Senate committee passes Senator Seifried’s Safe Screens for Kids Act

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, on Thursday, secured initial approval for legislation to protect children from the dangers presented by excessive and unsupervised use of social media.

The Senate Technology and Telecommunications Committee, chaired by Seifried, passed Senate Bill 885, the Safe Screens for Kids Act.

This legislation requires social media companies to receive parental consent before allowing minors to create an account. The Safe Screens for Kids Act also gives parents full access to their children’s accounts, in addition to only allowing communication from accounts the minor follows and limiting harmful features like unlimited scrolling and targeted ads.

“Research has consistently shown that time spent on social media is hurting kids’ mental health and well-being,” Seifried said. “The Safe Screens for Kids Act empowers parents to take an active role in their children's screen time and educate them on the dangers of the internet. This bill enacts reasonable safeguards to keep social media giants from taking advantage of our youngest and most impressionable residents.”

The committee also passed additional legislation enforcing strict privacy settings and security measures for minors on these platforms.

“These bills reflect the urgent need to protect Oklahoma children in this digital age,” Seifried said. “I’m proud to work with my colleagues on these pieces of legislation to raise awareness of the negative effects regarding how addictive these platforms have become.”

Seifried’s SB 885 is now eligible to be heard by the full Senate.

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For more information, contact: Sen. Ally Seifried at (405) 521-5555 or Ally.Seifried@oksenate.gov