Advocates press lawmakers to adjust social media bill over data privacy concerns, impacts on LGBTQ youth
Publish Date: 2026-05-14 06:15:00
Source Domain: www.wbur.org
Debate over social media restrictions continues to swamp Beacon Hill as top Democrats and digital and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups stake out their positions on regulating children’s use of the platforms.
Citing concerns about data privacy and impacts on LGBTQ+ youth, advocates gathered Wednesday to oppose House social media legislation and elevate ideas of their own, calling on lawmakers to work with them to adjust their approach.
The House, in the meantime, plans to separately take up a larger data privacy bill, House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office told the State House News Service, as the debate plays out over the social media regulation bill.
Digital advocacy group Fight for the Future Executive Director Evan Greer said the coalition of more than 50 organizations agrees with the instincts of lawmakers that social media companies need to be regulated and are harming children, but that it opposes the way Beacon Hill is going about it.
“Experts have been very clear, there is no safe way for social media companies to verify the age of every user online,” Greer said at a press conference on the State House steps. “That is why these types of proposals have been struck down in courts and revised in other states across the country.”
The House in April passed a bill (H 5366) by a 129-25 vote that bans student cellphone use in schools and bans social media use for kids under the age of 14, adding social media regulations onto a Senate cellphone ban bill (S 2581) passed in July. Democratic Reps. Erika Uyterhoeven and Mike Connolly voted against the bill, along with the majority of the Republican caucus.
Greer and others said that by banning youth from platforms, the House bill would take resources away from LGBTQ+ youth, who he said often find safe spaces and community online.
“We understand here in Massachusetts, there are certain things we can’t control,” Connolly said Wednesday alongside activists from MassEquality, Protect Trans Futures, Act on Mass and others. “There are certain…
