(Des Moines, IA) A candidate for governor in Iowa wants to ban social media for younger kids.
State auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic Party candidate for Iowa Governor, says he supports the current state law limiting student access to screens in classrooms, but adds more needs to be done. A press release from Sand’s campaign cited studies linking social media to poor adolescent mental health, saying the proposal would help get kids offline and allow them to simply be kids.
Sand’s plan would ban social media accounts for children 15 and younger and require parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds, similar to Utah’s App Store Accountability Act. It also calls for increased penalties for online predators, expanded resources to combat cyberbullying, and default privacy settings for users under 18.
A spokesman for Republican opponent Zach Lahn says Lahn is committed to keeping kids safe but has not proposed a similar plan.
