Georgia leaders should not vilify technology. Social media and AI hold promise.

At first glance, this appears refreshingly deliberate — a stark contrast to the age verification mandates proliferating across state capitals that effectively censor constitutionally protected speech for all Americans.

Yet, Georgia’s measured approach carries its own perils. Study committees can easily become echo chambers for predetermined conclusions, with carefully curated witnesses presenting advocacy as science. The risk is that Atlanta’s apparent prudence merely provides academic cover for the same heavy-handed regulations that courts have repeatedly struck down across the country, including in Georgia.

Study should examine social media benefits in addition to risks

Credit: COLIN HACKLEY

Credit: COLIN HACKLEY

The committee’s social media mandate follows a familiar pattern.

Advocates cite dubious correlations between platform usage and teen mental health crises to justify screen time restrictions and age verification schemes — regulations that federal courts have consistently rejected as First Amendment violations.

Georgia’s own lawmakers should remember that their state was among those rebuked by federal judges for attempting such constitutional overreach.

A genuinely comprehensive study would examine not just social media’s risks but also its substantial benefits — from community to educational resources that traditional institutions often fail to provide.

More importantly, it would recognize that digital literacy, not digital prohibition, offers the most sustainable path forward.

Florida and Tennessee have already demonstrated this approach by integrating social media education into their curricula, teaching students to navigate online spaces responsibly rather than attempting the impossible task of keeping them offline entirely.

Knee-jerk policy should not guide AI regulations for youth

The committee’s artificial intelligence mandate reflects mounting concerns following high-profile tragedies, including an Orlando teenager’s suicide after interactions with a chatbot. Combined with recent court rulings rejecting arguments that AI systems are entities with constitutional rights, these developments have created irresistible political pressure for legislative action. Parents demand answers — politicians promise solutions.

But lawmakers would be wise to consider what’s at stake beyond headline-grabbing tragedies. Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing education, personalizing learning while freeing teachers from administrative drudgery to focus on actual instruction. Schools from San Francisco to Portland report AI tools helping struggling students catch up and enabling advanced learners to accelerate — precisely the kind of educational innovation that could benefit Georgia’s children most.

The tragedy of teen suicide demands serious attention, but policy driven by worst-case scenarios rarely produces optimal outcomes. Georgia’s committee has an opportunity to model nuanced thinking about emerging technology — weighing genuine risks against transformative benefits rather than reflexively choosing regulatory sledgehammers over scalpels.

The choice before Georgia’s lawmakers is ultimately between two visions of governance: one that sees technology as an enemy to be conquered through government force and another that recognizes innovation as a tool to be guided through wisdom and restraint. The former path leads to constitutional dead ends and economic stagnation. The latter offers the possibility of protecting children while preserving the technological dynamism that has made America prosperous.

Resolution 431 and the work of the Georgia Senate will succeed only if committee members resist the siren call of regulatory populism and instead embrace the harder work of evidence-based policymaking. The Peach State’s children — and the Constitution — deserve nothing less.

Dr. Edward Longe is the director of national strategy and the director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at The James Madison Institute, a Tallahassee, Florida-based think tank committed to free-market capitalism, limited government, the rule of law and economic liberty.