PD Editorial: A social media second chance for kids

California’s kids will have more control over their online footprint in a few days. On Jan. 1, a state law takes effect that requires websites to allow people younger than 18 to remove their posts. Teens should waste no time cleaning up their digital history.

Teenagers often seem to teeter on the edge foolishness. They can be mean, whiny, brash or thoughtless, all within a few minutes sometimes as hormones surge through their developing brains. Adults who honestly reflect back on their own teen years will cringe at some of the things they did.

For anyone older than about 30, youthful indiscretions remain in the past. Not so for teens today who record their lives on social media sites. Their embarrassing spring break photos, cruel tweets and irrational rants about the celebrity of the moment all can come back to haunt them later in life. College admissions officers, potential employers, even just people they date as adults might dig up things online that no longer reflect the character and potential of the adult whom the teenager has become.

Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Vine and other popular social media sites already allow users to delete posts they have second thoughts about.

The practice is not universal, though. Some companies choose to keep every post, and that’s not good enough to protect children who embrace new technology faster than privacy protections can keep up.

State lawmakers therefore passed SB 568 in 2013 and gave companies more than a year to get ready. Now, rather than wait for companies to decide to let children control their posts, they are required to do so. The law also protects children from advertising of adult products like alcohol and tobacco.

This first-in-the-nation law likely will lead to some legal wrangling as providers try to work out the details of implementation. A federal law would serve everyone better, ensuring clear jurisdiction and consistent standards, but this is a good start.

In fact, state lawmakers should consider expanding this law. Turning 18 does not magically prevent people from making bad decisions online. Adults, especially after they’ve had a few drinks, are perfectly able to share too much. They also deserve a chance to undo the damage when they realize what they’ve done.

That also would deal with another shortcoming of the law. As teens turn 18, they lose the right to remove content they posted before their birthday.

There’s no need for rules as expansive as those imposed by a court in the European Union, but everyone should retain control of the content they personally create.

California’s law will not help in every case. If someone else posted an embarrassing photo, it remains until that third party does something about it. The same goes if someone copies or shares the content before it is removed. And websites do not have to remove content completely. It can remain on servers, just invisible to the public, at least until a hacker breaks into the system.

California’s young people have a new tool, nothing more. The best way to avoid humiliation remains thinking twice about what one posts in the first place.