Attorney General Cameron Joins Bipartisan Coalition in Letter Supporting Congressional Hearings Addressing Youth Social Media Use

Investigating concerns

FRANKFORT, Ky. (October 5, 2021) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys general in sending a letter to Congress to express support for today’s Congressional hearings dedicated to investigating concerns over the exploitation of youth by social media platforms.

“Our office is dedicated to protecting Kentucky’s youngest citizens, and to do that in today’s world, it is imperative that we remain involved in conversations surrounding social media usage and the policies of social media platforms,” said Attorney General Cameron. “Congressional hearings are an important step to better understand how social media platforms interact with their youngest users, and to insure that these platforms don’t take advantage of them.”

Attorney General Cameron has remained vigilant about the impact of social media usage on young people. Earlier this year, he joined 44 attorneys general in sending a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the parent company of Instagram, urging the company to abandon plans to launch a version of Instagram targeting children under the age of 13. Last week, in advance of Congressional hearings, Facebook announced its intent to “pause” the project.

In their letter to Congress, the bipartisan coalition writes that, “Facebook and other social media platforms understand that their business models necessitate increasing the amount of time that kids engage with their platforms to maximize monetization. This prompts social media companies to design their algorithms and other features to psychologically manipulate young users into a state of addiction to their cell phone screens.”

Attorney General Cameron joined attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming  in sending the letter.

To view a copy of the letter, click here.