Talking about this on American Family Radio (AFR)'s "Jenna Ellis in the Morning" program, Patrick Hedger of NetChoice said parents need to step in and intervene in these cases.
"We've got to be very very careful about replacing parents with the state, and that's what Australia has done," said Hedger. "Australia, as we saw during the COVID pandemic, is one of the bigger nanny states that's out there."
Hedger added that, in the United States, we have inalienable rights that are protected by the Constitution.
"Ultimately people that are under 18 still have rights to access lawful and legal speech," said Hedger. "While there are plenty of things online that kids should be prevented from accessing by their parents, by parental controls, there are a lot of good things online as well, access to communities and good information, and if we expect teenagers to turn 18 and participate in society and vote, we should not be depriving them of access to information about their communities, which is often happening now on social media services."
Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) applauds Australia for its ban. The mother of two told Fox News this week that Big Tech is causing "harms," and it is the job of lawmakers to "put up the proper guardrails" for minors.
"I think the time for action is now, and Australia taking this step, I hope, leads to the U.S. actually doing something," said Britt, who has joined Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in trying to bring about that action.
Cruz has co-sponsored the bipartisan ‘Kids Off Social Media Act,’ which seeks to ban social media platforms from allowing children under 13 to create or maintain accounts, regardless of parental consent.
Britt is a bill sponsor, and so are Democratic senators such as Brian Schatz and Chris Murphy.
The proposed legislation also imposes restrictions on algorithms for users under 17.
In a video posted this week on X, former Representative and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel also called for the U.S. to follow Australia's lead and set restrictions.
