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๐Politics should be about more than teams, personalities, & outrage.
๐I write about Texas politics through the lens of principle: research, policy analysis, commentary, & liberty. See what Iโm working on: JeramyKitchen.com
๐I write about Texas politics through the lens of principle: research, policy analysis, commentary, & liberty. See what Iโm working on: JeramyKitchen.com
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๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ป retweeted
๐จDigital ID whack-a-mole games are back for 2027:
Starting with Texas social media ban SB 212. This year's version lowers the age from 18 to 16. It's supposed to "protect kids", but it's going to require every user to provide identity verification to have a social media parents in the "driver's seat". In fact, parents have no say. Under 16 = NO social media. There is no parental consent exception.
This is government-as-parent.
Pay attention to the "transactional data" that is required for the verification process. This means credit bureau, bank, and data broker records. How many 16โ17-year-olds have that?
This is another bill being sold as "child safety" that creates a digital ID and surveillance framework for every user.
Starting with Texas social media ban SB 212. This year's version lowers the age from 18 to 16. It's supposed to "protect kids", but it's going to require every user to provide identity verification to have a social media parents in the "driver's seat". In fact, parents have no say. Under 16 = NO social media. There is no parental consent exception.
This is government-as-parent.
Pay attention to the "transactional data" that is required for the verification process. This means credit bureau, bank, and data broker records. How many 16โ17-year-olds have that?
This is another bill being sold as "child safety" that creates a digital ID and surveillance framework for every user.
Texas Social Media Ban (HB 212) is back for the 2027 session, and it goes further than most people realize.
The bill would bar anyone under 16 from social media. But to find the under-16s, platforms would have to verify the age of every new account holder in Texas, using ke the records held by credit bureaus, banks, and data brokers.
Thereโs also no exception for parental consent. Parents can ask the state to delete a childโs account, but they canโt say yes.
The full breakdown covers what the bill promises, what the text actually does, who gains power, and what would protect kids without an age check for everyone.
Read it here: protectingkidsonline.substack.com/p/to-keep-kidsโฆ
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Two days into prefiling: 1,351 bills, 40 new crimes, 23 new fees, & 57 property tax bills.
825 digests & counting. We'll keep reading so you don't have to. #txlege
825 digests & counting. We'll keep reading so you don't have to. #txlege
(1/5) Day 2 of prefiling for the 90th #txlege: 100 more bills & resolutions filed today, bringing the total to 1,351.
We've now posted 825 free bill digests, covering 61% of everything filed.๐
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-digests/
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Lowering the age from 18 to 16 doesnโt change what Texasโs proposed social media ban is: a state mandate parents canโt waive, age checks for every Texan, & a model thatโs struggling in Australia. Our first Legislative Spotlight of the 90th #txlege Session breaks down HB 212. ๐
(๐งต1/10) Rep. @JaredLPatterson (R-Frisco) has filed HB 212 to ban Texans under 16 from social media, even with a parentโs permission. Itโs the return of last sessionโs HB 186, which passed the House 116-25 before stalling in the Senate. Our first Legislative Spotlight of the 90th #txlege: texaspolicyresearch.com/patterson-reviโฆ
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1,262 bills & resolutions on day one of prefiling for the 90th Texas Legislature. Medicaid expansion, abolishing property taxes, bipartisan repeal of data center tax breaks, red flag laws, & more. Our breakdown ๐ #txlege
(๐งต1/10) Texas lawmakers filed 1,262 bills & resolutions on the first day of bill filing for the 90th #txlege. Thatโs the second-busiest opening day on record, behind only 2024โs 1,511.
Hereโs what they filed & what it means for Texans.
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-filing-opโฆ
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More nonsensical paternalism by those who want to make parenting decisions for you by controlling your decisions and business activity. The better way is for government to educate parents and students about best practices online and for parents to use the parental filters provided by social media providers. Texas shouldnโt use Australiaโs big-government approach to social media.
(๐งต1/10) Today, Rep. @JaredLPatterson (R-Frisco) filed HB 212 to ban Texans under 16 from using social media. It brings back last sessionโs HB 186, which passed the House 116-25 but never got a vote in the full #txlege Senate.
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-digests/#โฆ
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๐คฏ 1,251 bills on day one, 34 new crimes, 21 new fees, & #txlege session hasn't even started.
We're reading every one so you don't have to โคต๏ธ
We're reading every one so you don't have to โคต๏ธ
(1/5) Day 1 of prefiling for the 90th #txlege is in the books.
In total: 1,251 bills & resolutions filed:
-900 House bills
-279 Senate bills
-58 proposed constitutional amendments
-14 concurrent resolutions
We've already posted 513 free bill digests.๐ซ
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-digests/
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Up to nearly 400 now. Chugging through them as quickly as we can. #txlege
Prefiling opened this morning, & the first 95 'Bill Digests' are already up. Last #txlege session, we did 10,000+ of these in a Google Sheet. This time it's a real tool: search, filters, a link for every bill, & spreadsheet downloads. Enjoy!
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๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ป retweeted
"The case for markets isnโt that they are always right. They arenโt. Instead, the case for markets is that they are more likely to be right than are politicians and bureaucrats." cafehayek.com/2026/11/marketโฆ
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(๐งต1/10) Today, Rep. @JaredLPatterson (R-Frisco) filed HB 212 to ban Texans under 16 from using social media. It brings back last sessionโs HB 186, which passed the House 116-25 but never got a vote in the full #txlege Senate.
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-digests/#โฆ
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-digests/#โฆ
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(9/) We covered HB 186 last session & again when the idea resurfaced after Australiaโs ban. Our analysis of why social media bans for minors are state control, not child protection: texaspolicyresearch.com/bills/89th-legโฆ
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(10/10) HB 212 runs directly against our Texas Liberty Compact's call to Protect Free Speech & Digital Expression. That plank calls for opposing blanket bans on lawful digital platforms & keeping digital regulation within First Amendment limits. Digital speech is speech. #txlege
texaspolicyresearch.com/the-texas-libeโฆ
texaspolicyresearch.com/the-texas-libeโฆ
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So... can we slow down on the bill filing... please. #txlege
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Prefiling opened this morning, & the first 95 'Bill Digests' are already up. Last #txlege session, we did 10,000+ of these in a Google Sheet. This time it's a real tool: search, filters, a link for every bill, & spreadsheet downloads. Enjoy!
๐ Prefiling for the 90th Legislature opened today, & our free bill digests are live. The first 95 digests are live: plain-language summaries you can search by topic, bill number, or author, with a shareable link for every bill.
More added as bills are filed. #txlege
texaspolicyresearch.com/bill-digests/
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