Building on his efforts to limit cell phone use in schools, Governor Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia General Assembly have attempted to limit social media use for minors under 16. On Jan. 1, the Consumer Data Protection Act became effective in Virginia.

The Consumer Data Protection Act aims to protect teenagers from the negative effects of social media in two ways. Not only does the Consumer Data Protection Act require social media companies to implement methods to determine whether a user is under 16, but it also limits minors’ use of their platforms to one hour per day.

“I think limiting social media use in minors is a great idea,” senior Carrie Chia said. “I know many teenagers [who] get caught up doom-scrolling on social media after school and end up procrastinating.” 

However, with 44% of online teens admitting to having lied about their age at least once to access social media, according to Pew Research Center, some students are unconvinced that the Consumer Data Protection Act will bring any change. 

“As of confirming age, I see many loopholes,” Chia said. “[The law] doesn’t specify specific methods to verify someone’s age so how are social media companies going to magically stop minors from lying about their age if they couldn’t manage to do so until now.”