Texas signs into law online safety bill reportedly opposed by Apple’s Tim Cook
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Texas Governor Signs Online Child Safety Bill
Above: Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, at an executive order signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2025. Image copyright: Bonnie Cash/Contributor/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Broad government intervention in an attempt to protect children's safety online comes with too many pitfalls. Strict laws like Texas' can lead to over-censoring and also deny children access to critical educational and social resources. Governments should adopt policies that work more to support parents in their efforts to protect their children rather than over-regulating.
Narrative B
The data is definitive that age verification methods must be implemented to protect kids from the harms social media apps cause. Companies are profiting from the harms they're causing, and must be stopped. In an ideal world, this bill wouldn't have to be so restrictive, but the positives of this bill outweigh the disadvantages Texas teens may face without limited access to the apps.