Dallas-Fort Worth-area Texas State Representative Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) has introduced a series of bills aimed at protecting minors ahead of the 2025 legislative session.

According to Patterson's November 12 Tweet, the proposed legislation seeks to safeguard children on the Internet and in schools, while also empowering parents. A press release accompanying the Tweet quotes Patterson as saying that "heavily addictive social media platforms are destroying the lives of children in Texas."

Patterson attributes what he describes as "record increases in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide" to "the rapid rise in social media use by minors," according to the release.

The bills include House Bill (HB) 186, which aims to restrict social media companies from engaging with minors; HB 267 proposes removing the "obscenity exemption" as a current affirmative defense to prosecution; HB 183 seeks to establish a new statewide library material review process for the elected State Board of Education (SBOE); and HB 284 is designed to strengthen parental rights in Texas.

Patterson states in his release that social media is the "most dangerous thing" children have legal access to in Texas.