In a significant move, the U.S. Senate, with overwhelming bipartisan support, has advanced two pivotal bills aimed at safeguarding children and teenagers on social media platforms. The legislation, which received an 86-1 vote in a procedural step, marks a crucial moment in addressing concerns that have been growing among parents and advocates for years.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the key sponsors, likened the responsibility of social media companies to that of car manufacturers, stating, “Big Tech, we no longer trust you to make decisions for us. Car manufacturers are required to install seatbelts and airbags. The same has to be true of social media companies.”
The future of these bills, however, remains uncertain in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which is currently in recess until September.
The first bill, known as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), sets a “duty of care” standard for social media companies when it comes to protecting minors. This includes requiring platforms to offer options that protect children’s information and disable addictive features by default. The act targets risks like suicide and disordered eating.
The second piece of legislation, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), aims to ban targeted advertising and data collection from minors without consent. It also empowers parents and children to delete personal information from social media platforms.
These measures represent the first substantial effort to update child safety laws since the original COPPA was enacted in 1998, predating the smartphone era. Kris Perry, executive director of Children and Screens, a nonprofit focused on digital media’s impact on minors, highlighted the need for such legislation, stating, “We’ve been in a decade-long experiment with children’s well-being and platforms, and it’s overdue to make the products safer and allow us to move to a new stage of deeper understanding of children’s digital lives.”
The proposed laws also aim to provide researchers with greater access to the algorithms used by social media companies, allowing for a deeper understanding of their effects on young users.
Some major tech companies have expressed support for these initiatives, including Microsoft and Snap Inc. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has shown support for the principles behind the legislation but suggested that federal law should require app stores to obtain parental consent for downloads by users under 16.
The Biden administration has thrown its support behind the bills, urging Congress to pass them swiftly to hold Big Tech accountable. The White House emphasized the urgency of these reforms, calling for the legislation to be sent to the President’s desk “without delay.”
