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House passes bill requiring warning labels on social media platforms for minors
Summary
The Texas House approved HB 499, directing the Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules for a warning label about social media’s mental health risks for minors, with an amendment excluding interactive gaming and self-help platforms.
The Texas House on Tuesday passed HB 499, a bill that requires social media platforms to display a warning about the potential mental-health harms for minors and to include the state’s 988 crisis hotline on the label.
Why it matters: Supporters said the measure aims to give teens and parents clearer information about the risks of social media use and to reduce youth mental-health harms. Opponents pushed back on delegating content decisions to an agency and on the mechanics of rulemaking.
The bill, filed by Rep. Gonzales of El Paso, directs the Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules defining the label’s content. “We have a youth mental health crisis,” Gonzales said on the House floor, arguing that a simple, standardized warning could help. The measure as passed includes a floor amendment from Gonzales that narrowed the scope: interactive gaming websites or applications and self-help platforms were excluded from the definition of “social media platform” in the bill.
Opponents pressed the author on who decides the label text and how that authority will be exercised. Representative Little asked whether “an unelected appointed bureaucrat” at HHSC would determine the label’s content; Gonzales said the bill sets baseline text and gives the executive commissioner discretion through the agency’s rulemaking process so the label can evolve with technology. Gonzales also said the bill specifies some required content items and that the agency’s rule process provides opportunities for public input.
An amendment from Gonzales that excluded interactive gaming sites and self‑help platforms passed on a recorded vote; the bill as amended passed to engrossment by a vote of 105 ayes to 40 nays.
What’s next: HB 499 goes to the Senate for consideration. The law will require HHSC rulemaking on the label and a process for updating label language as technology changes.
Votes and formal action: The House adopted the Gonzales amendment to exclude interactive gaming and self‑help platforms (record vote called). Final passage to engrossment: HB 499 (Gonzales of El Paso) — passed to engrossment, 105 ayes, 40 nays.
