NTIA Releases Best Practices For Children Online

July 22, 2024 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration released best practices to address the ongoing youth mental health crisis on Monday.

The report urged social media companies to design their platforms to protect youth well-being. Recommendations include creating age-appropriate content for young users, reducing or removing features that encourage excessive or problematic use, ensuring privacy protections for youth by default, limiting “likes” and other social comparison features, and providing age-appropriate parental control tools.

“We are committed to combating the youth mental health crisis in this country and ensuring Americans have the tools and support they need to thrive online [to protect their privacy and mental health],” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, noting that the recommendations will chart a path toward an internet that works for everyone.

Policymakers should enact bipartisan federal legislation to protect youth safety and privacy online, advance industry action to enact these safety measures, provide support for research into online safety, and support updated resources for youth, suggested the report. It also contained strategies and conversation starters for parents and caregivers to help talk to children about online safety and technology use. 

With the rise of social media use, approximately 95 percent of teenagers and 40 percent of children ages 8 to 12 are now online, according to the press release. 

Social media is associated with risks to youth physical and mental health, including exposure to bullying, online harassment and abuse, discrimination, child sexual exploitation, and inaccurate information that can be unhelpful or actively dangerous.

States like Utah, Arkansas, California, and Louisiana passed laws in 2023 that impose age limits or require parental consent to open accounts for children on certain platforms to protect youth.

In May 2023, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning that social media carries a “profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents,” calling it an “urgent public health issue.”

The Kids Online Safety Act was reintroduced in 2023 by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sparking a mix of praise and criticism from a broad range of youth health, civil liberties and technology organizations.

“We need to hold these platforms accountable for their role in exposing our kids to harmful content, which is leading to declining mental health, higher rates of suicide, and eating disorders… these new laws would go a long way in safeguarding the experiences our children have online,” said Johanna Kandel, CEO of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, in a press release on May 2, 2023.