Lt. Gov. Jon Husted has made protecting Ohio’s youth from social media a priority, and the state legislature followed suit. As part of the recently-passed state budget bill, the legislature included the Social Media Notification Act, which requires social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok to require parental consent before a child 16 or younger is granted access. He says…the reason for the bill is that the evidence is very clear that social media is negatively affecting the mental and physical health of children and harming their academic progress. He added it’s also leads to bullying, eating disorders and inappropriate sexual conduct, as well as an increase in suicide. The act requires online companies to obtain verifiable parental consent to contractual terms of service before granting anyone under 16 access to their platforms.