Puerto Rico seeks to impose a minimum age of 18 years for having social networks

A House measure in Puerto Rico is awaiting the signature of the island’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, to decree that 18 years of age will be the minimum age for a person to open an account on any social network.

House Bill 262, authored by Representative José Meléndez of the ruling New Progressive Party, was unanimously approved in the Senate by a vote of 26 to 0 on June 25.

“There is no doubt that the use of social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, among others, is a matter of responsibility for parents and their children,” Melendez said in a press release on Tuesday.

The bill also seeks, among other things, that parents approve that their minor children can have accounts on social media platforms with all available security filters, Meléndez said.

“There must be a minimum age for these young people to be able to access the networks,” he stressed.

The legislator indicated that last May, US congressmen introduced a bill to establish the minimum age for minors to access social networks at 13 years.

This is a direct consequence of the adult content that minors are exposed to and the famous ‘challenges’, as well as the crudeness of much of the graphic material, which has caused Congress to act, as they have determined that it is a matter of children’s mental health.

“Here in Puerto Rico we have the tool to confront this with the approval of Bill 262,” said Meléndez.

In 2023, the Puerto Rican legislator held several meetings with congressmen to, among other issues, discuss greater controls on minors accessing social media, including guidance to parents and/or guardians on the risks these platforms represent.

“This project does not in any way seek to have the Government intervene in the personal affairs of any person, but it does seek to create a framework for parents and/or guardians to act to prevent minors from being targeted by materials aimed at adults,” he added.

He also mentioned that in early 2023, the state of Montana passed a measure to ban the use of TikTok on all devices, the first US jurisdiction to do so.

However, it is now considering lowering the minimum age for young people to have social networks from 18 to 13 years.

Puerto Rico / EFE