The Texas House passed a bill last week requiring social media platforms to display warning labels about the link between minors’ usage and significant mental health issues, a measure now advancing to the Senate with bipartisan support.
House Bill 499, authored by Rep. Mary González (D-El Paso), mandates that social media platforms operating in Texas show a warning label on their landing page each time a user opens the app.
The label must detail the association between excessive social media use by minors and mental health risks, such as anxiety, depression, and increased suicide rates.
It would also include resources like the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s phone number or website and a statement on social media’s addictive nature and platforms’ use of personal data.
Users must verify that they understand the warning before accessing the platform.
“For too long, social media platforms have been driving our children to distraction and exploiting their emotions for profit,” said Julie Scelfo, founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction, a group backing the bill, per Fox 4 KDFW.
The Kids Code Coalition, a nonprofit, is rallying legislative support for the measure. The organization hosted a virtual news conference on Monday, during which Austin high school sophomore Ayaan Moledina shared his struggles with social media.
“I’ve been broken before, and I’ve seen my peers break. And it’s tragic,” he said, Fox 4 reported. “We see people at parties we weren’t invited to, bodies we feel we’ll never have, and lives that look happier than ours. And we internalize that.”
Moledina, who supports the bill, added, “As someone who has battled serious mental health issues, I can say if I had seen those warnings when I was in the darkest places in my life, if I had known other people who were struggling and help was available, I might have asked for help sooner.”
The bill, modeled after tobacco and alcohol warnings, requires the Health and Human Services Commission to adopt evidence-based rules for the label’s form and content.
Supporters say it addresses a youth mental health crisis, citing Pew Research data that 81% of teens use social media, averaging 2.5 hours daily. Studies link usage beyond three hours daily to doubled mental health risks and earlier suicide attempts among teens.
Critics argue the bill falls short, suggesting stronger protections like age verification or parental oversight are needed to safeguard minors. They question whether warnings alone can counter evolving online risks.
Rep. González believes the bill has enough bipartisan backing to pass the more conservative Texas Senate, but time is tight with the 89th Legislative Session ending June 2. If approved, the law would take effect September 1.