Topline
A day after Tucker Carlson urged his viewers to call child protective services if they see kids wearing masks outside, the New Jersey and Utah child welfare departments discouraged people from making frivolous calls and clarified that wearing face coverings was unlikely to constitute a form of child abuse.
Key Facts
In a wide-ranging rant about masks during a monologue on his show Monday, Carlson claimed it was “unacceptable,” “dangerous” and should even be “illegal” for children to wear masks outside while they play.
Citing debunked claims about masks decreasing oxygen levels, Carlson urged his viewers to contact the police or child welfare agencies if they see a kid wearing a mask outside.
In response to an inquiry from Forbes on Tuesday, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families said that calls to the child abuse hotline “must meet certain criteria for an investigative response” and that a “parent or guardian placing a mask on a child or youth, whether inside or outside, is not, by itself, considered abusive.”
In a warning to Americans who might heed Carlson’s advice, the department said that “frivolous calls” to the agency “prevent staff from helping the children and families that truly need assistance.”
Sarah Welliver, a spokesperson for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, said that for the agency to respond it would need “at minimum” an “allegation of abuse or neglect as defined by state statute” and clarified that “children wearing or not wearing masks is unlikely to meet any threshold of abuse.”
Forbes reached out to multiple other child welfare agencies on Tuesday and will update this story with their responses.
What To Watch For
Child protection agencies of Georgia, Texas, Delaware and Alabama told the Washington Post on Wednesday they have yet to receive calls about children wearing masks.
Crucial Quote
“Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid at Walmart,” Carlson said Monday.
Chief Critic
“If you don’t want to wear a mask outside, then don’t,” Justin Amash (L-Mich.) wrote on Twitter in response to Carlson’s comments. “If you do want to, then go ahead. Respect other people’s choices, including the choices of parents. Absolutely do not call the police or contact child protective services.”
Key Background
Carlson began his mask rant blasting “neurotic” liberals who wore masks outside even when science shows that the risk of spreading Covid-19 outdoors is low. Carlson called outdoor mask-wearers “the aggressors” and said it was his viewers jobs to “brush them back and restore the society we were born in.” On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to state vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear a mask outside in public, so long as they are not in crowded settings. Many GOP-led states across the country have already dropped statewide mask orders.
