27 December 2025

Virginia enacts social media time limits for minors starting Jan. 1, 2026 & Media Guidelines 26DEZ25 & 7JUL18

THIS may be a surprise to my family and friends who know my liberal beliefs, attitudes and actions but I am a supporter of the Commonwealth's new law on social media and minors. These controls are not the same as book banning in our schools, something I am generally opposed to. The social media time limits for minors lessens the chances of minors being exposed to porn or racism or violence. This law lowers the risk of minors being manipulated and then being sexually assaulted and abused, or manipulated and then committing suicide, or manipulated and then committing acts of violence. And the law allows for parents to adjust the time limits for their children to lower time limits or no time limits. ( Though the material from US Davis may be a little old it applies to today just as it did in 2018 ) These from WSET ABC13 News and UC Davis Health / Children's Hospital

Virginia enacts social media time limits for minors starting Jan. 1

by Alexia Stanbridge

Fri, December 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM

Updated Fri, December 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM

Virginia is set to implement a new law next week that will impose strict time limits on social media usage for minors.

Starting Jan. 1, social media platforms will be required to restrict users under the age of 16 to just one hour per day on their apps.

Del. Wendell Walker, R-52nd District, compared social media addiction to drug addiction, saying, "When we get hooked on social media, it's almost like a drug addiction, you just have to have more."

The law allows parents to adjust these time limits, either increasing or decreasing them as they see fit.

Del. Sam Rasoul, D-38th District, emphasized the bipartisan concern over children's mental health, stating, "From a bipartisan perspective, people are concerned about the addiction of screen time. Social media companies are trying to entice us through these algorithms and keep us more and more addicted to these social media platforms."

The legislation, which passed with support from both parties in the House and Senate, also mandates that companies use reasonable methods to verify a user's age.

Del. Walker noted that it is the responsibility of the attorney general's office to ensure compliance with the new rules, saying, "You have to work for the safety and the health of the human beings out here and for young people."

The new law applies only to minors, with no changes to adult access.

Attempts to reach social media companies X, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok for comment or an interview have been unsuccessful.

MEDIA GUIDELINES

by three29

July 7, 2018

Growing Up in a Digital World

An ever-changing technological landscape asks for more and more from parents and teachers as the younger generations grow up with omnipresent technology and media. Here are some handouts illustrating Media Guidelines for toddlers, children, and teens, created by our team at the UC Davis center for Child & Adolescent Abuse Resource & Evaluation.