A bill that would have banned anyone under 18 from using or creating social media accounts appears to be dead in the Texas Legislature after missing a crucial procedural deadline Wednesday night.
The proposal would have established one of the nation鈥檚 strictest efforts to limit minors鈥� access to social media. called for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook to verify users鈥� ages, prohibit minors from signing up, and delete existing accounts at a verified parent鈥檚 request. Companies that failed to comply could have faced legal action under Texas consumer protection laws.
The measure would have excluded services with content that isn鈥檛 user-generated or those primarily focused on interactive gaming. It was last month but failed to clear the Senate Wednesday night 鈥� effectively killing the bill.
Republican Rep. Jared Patterson of Frisco, the bill鈥檚 author, took to on Thursday to express his frustration over his measure's failure to advance.
"HB 186 is 鈥� by far 鈥� the biggest disappointment of my career. I felt the weight of an entire generation of kids who鈥檝e had their mental health severely handicapped as a result of the harms of social media," Patterson wrote. "There was no bill filed this session that would have protected more kids in more ways than this one. HB 186 failing to pass this session means I鈥檝e failed these kids and their families."
HB 186 drew sharp criticism from civil liberties groups and tech advocates who warned it could violate the First Amendment and create major privacy concerns. Among these critics is Ari Cohn, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which previously sued the state over the 2023 SCOPE Act.
鈥淗B 186 couldn鈥檛 be more unconstitutional,鈥� Cohn said. 鈥淚t tramples on the well-established First Amendment rights of both minors and adults to speak and receive information online.鈥�
Cohn warned that the bill鈥檚 language was 鈥渟tunningly broad,鈥� potentially affecting not only social media platforms, but also messaging apps, online forums and even collaborative sites like Wikipedia. He added that the bill could have undermined online anonymity for adults and denied minors access to constitutionally protected content.
鈥淭he First Amendment leaves no room for the notion that Texas can outright ban minors from online communication wholesale,鈥� Cohn said.
HB 186 was the latest in a series of laws from Texas aimed at regulating tech platforms. Earlier this week, Gov. Abbott signed into law, which will require app stores to implement age verification and parental controls for downloads by minors. That law 鈥� which was by companies like Apple 鈥� is set to take effect next year. In 2023, lawmakers passed the SCOPE Act to give parents more control over children鈥檚 online activity, though parts of that law were on constitutional grounds.
And Texas isn鈥檛 alone. last year, banning children under 14 from social media and requiring parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. Though challenged in court, the ban . Several other states, including Arkansas, Utah and Oklahoma, have passed or proposed legislation to limit minors鈥� access to online platforms.
While HB 186 appears dead for now, it鈥檚 worth noting it could still resurface. Lawmakers could try to tack it onto another measure as an amendment before the session ends. It鈥檚 rare 鈥� 鈥� in the Texas Legislature.
