Rahm Emanuel, who is running for president, is pushing for the United States to follow Australia’s lead in banning children under 16 from most social media.
Concerned by the addictive nature of social media apps and the attendant health and safety risks for young users, Emanuel wants to increase public pressure on US lawmakers to restrict access to the world’s most popular platforms.
In a bit of irony, the potential 2028 White House plans to release its call to action on Tuesday. Australian restrictions applyIn a video he will post on his social media accounts, the plan was shared by the Democrat with POLITICO.
“We have to make a choice when it comes to our teenagers: Who’s going to be a kind of moral guiding light? I put my finger on the adults in the algorithms,” Emanuel said in an interview, accusing Big Tech of prioritizing profits over “the safety of our teenagers.”
It’s the latest in a series of policy stances by Emanuel, a former ambassador who served for three Democratic presidents and is mayor of Chicago. Education who Public safety Ahead of an important mid-term election.
It also comes as Democrats are embracing social media influencers and encouraging political leaders and candidates to spend more time online to promote their message and reach young voters.
But Emanuel sees them as separate issues — a campaign strategy aimed at public health issues affecting teens versus adults over 18. He compared solving it to the steps he took as mayor to stop youth smoking Raising the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products. And he suggested that lawmakers should start by targeting the three most popular apps among American teenagers — TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
“We cannot afford to lose another generation through inaction or political deadlock,” he said.
Emanuel appears to be taking a tougher stance on youth access to social media than some of his rivals for the Democratic nomination — and positioning himself against. A large tech lobby that has strongly opposed the efforts To regulate who has access to their platform, arguing it violates free speech. As a candidate, he also received donations from tech giants including Eric Schmidt and Sheryl Sandberg.
Asked about those contributions, he said his stance now shows his independence from those firms.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed bills this fall that require social media platforms to display health warning labels to minors and apps to verify children’s ages. Both Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have spoken out about the impact of social media on children’s mental health.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed a “Kids Code” last year aimed at limiting the data tech companies can collect from children, but are embroiled in a legal battle. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a law in 2023 that works Ensure children are compensated To appear in online content.
Asked if his proposed social media ban would be key to his platform as he runs for president, Emanuel said, “Anything that allows us to improve educational standards and focus on protecting our children on a public-health basis would be a priority.”
of Australia The world’s first social media ban Designed to restrict access by children under the age of 16 to major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. And it threatens their parent companies with tens of millions of dollars in fines. Tech companies opposed the measure as rash and hasty “short-sighted” and argued It “doesn’t deliver on its promise to keep kids safe online.” But they have already started Deactivating accounts.
There is some support for a similar ban in the U.S. About six in 10 voters in A Quinnipiac University Survey At the end of 2024 they held that they wanted to see the same age restrictions, although support was low among 18 to 34-year-olds. An August POLITICO-Citrin Center-Probability Lab poll of registered California voters showed 45 percent support for restricting social media for children under 16.
A bipartisan group of senators — including Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who political insiders are positioning themselves for the next White House run in 2028 — and who have created children’s online safety. The focus of his tenure was chairing the panel Who Monitors Social Media – Bill introduced That will happen at the beginning of this year Banning children under 13 from social media. Emanuel said the law has “the right emphasis.”
another one A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced a bill It requires social media firms to remove features that could negatively impact youth mental health. The bill passed the Senate 91-3 last year but stalled in the House, and The two cells differ in details.
Amid the obstruction of the Congress A patchwork of predominantly red states have passed the legislation Attempting to limit children’s access to social media by requiring parental consent and imposing digital curfews. However, those efforts have met with resistance Industry groups Representing tech giants like Meta, Alphabet and Snapchat have been and have been to a large extent Blocked by Courts.
Still, a divided panel of appeals judges last month gave Florida the go-ahead to begin Enforcing the law Signed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, a one-time presidential aspirant, it bars children under 14 from using most social media platforms and requires parental approval for ages 14 and 15. DeSantis, who could mount another White House bid in 2028. He praised the law As a way to keep children safe from online predators.
Emanuel acknowledged the tough legal challenges that social media bans could face. But he said there is a potential “winning argument” in casting the crackdowns as fighting “public health issues related to technology” rather than the technology itself.
Tyler Katzenberger, Andrew Atterbury and Shea Kapos contributed to this report.
