Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Thursday pushed for more legislation to address social media use by children and teenagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News, the senators warned of social media’s effects on mental health for young people, saying they’ve introduced and co-sponsored bills because they feel a need to put up guardrails for the next generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe did this together, not just as senators, but as parents, because we have young children too,\u201d Fetterman said alongside Britt in a sit-down interview with NBC News’ \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Kristen Welker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt said that they approach legislation on the topic \u201cnot as Democrats or Republicans, but as concerned parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The senators’ comments came at a Common Ground event, part of an NBC News franchise bringing together leaders with different perspectives to focus on solutions to pressing issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a separate interview at the event in Washington, Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said social media has contributed to a rise in toxicity and polarization in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI mean just social media, I think changed everything, right? It made it made the job more miserable,\u201d Malliotakis told NBC News’ Ryan Nobles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She recounted the blowback she received on social media after siding with Democrats and a handful of Republicans to pass a House measure that would reinstate temporary protections for Haitians living in the U.S., essentially rebuking a key component of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dingell added that \u201csocial media is, without fail, one of the worst things that\u2019s happened to this country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the legislative front, Britt and Fetterman discussed teaming up on a pair of bills that would put safeguards in place to protect youth mental health and regulate social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt introduced the \u201cStop the Scroll Act\u201d in the Senate last year, a bipartisan bill that would require social media platforms to post a mental health warning label. Fetterman co-sponsored the bill, along with Democratic Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fetterman and Britt are also co-sponsors of the \u201cKids Off Social Media Act,\u201d introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. That measure would require platforms and children\u2019s schools to implement restrictions on social media usage, including banning kids under 13 years old from creating accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither bill has come to the Senate floor for a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt said that when it comes to areas where the U.S. wants to lead, this is one “where we\u2019re not.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: “Other countries have stepped up and stepped up to the plate, and we continue to kind of walk past it, and the time to do something is now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fetterman talked about how social media contributed to his mental health struggles, which he has been open about, following his election to the Senate in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he avoids spending too much time on social media. \u201cWhen I made the mistake to do that after I won my election, that\u2019s when things really got bad and the depression set in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt talked about how she visited Fetterman at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center when he sought treatment for depression in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJohn has more courage, and the strength that he showed in that moment is something that I hope everyone in America looks to and learns from,\u201d Britt said. \u201cAnd for him to trust me enough to be in that space with him, I will always want to be worthy of that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt said she formed a fast friendship with Fetterman when they were first-year senators in 2023, shortly after she won her 2022 election in a ruby red state by more than 35 percentage points and Fetterman won by nearly 5 points in a battleground state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The senators also discussed their positions on the Iran war, with both saying they would vote to keep the U.S. engaged in the conflict. Fetterman is a Democratic outlier in that respect. He’s consistently the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting against war powers resolutions that would limit Trump’s actions in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fetterman, who has bucked his party on other issues like the Department of Homeland Security, characterized his stance as \u201ctoxic\u201d for a Democrat, but stood by his vote, saying that for him \u201cit\u2019s not controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to agree on every element of Epic Fury, but if we all agree that we could never allow them to acquire a nuclear bomb, I don\u2019t know why we wouldn\u2019t want to empower the president to say no, make sure that Iran can\u2019t become a nuclear power,\u201d Fetterman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fetterman, who has won two statewide elections in Pennsylvania, dodged when asked if he would run for re-election, or perhaps even for president one day, simply saying, \u201cI have a future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fetterman also said that despite finding consensus with Republicans, he was a Democrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs much as I am friends with a lot of Republicans, including my parents, I\u2019m not a Republican,\u201d Fetterman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One issue on which Britt and Fetterman could not find common ground? Whether they would go to space if given the option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both senators expressed strong support for NASA, and Britt said she would make a space sojourn if it were offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Fetterman wasn\u2019t as keen, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t think they have a 4XL in a suit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n