Senate committee to consider advancing bipartisan children’s online safety bill
The Senate Commerce Committee to Advance Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Minors Online
The Senate Commerce Committee is taking action to safeguard minors online by introducing additional privacy controls for teenagers and parents. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have announced that the Kids Online Safety Act will be considered for markup on July 27. This bill aims to implement various safeguards to protect children and teenagers online, addressing concerns raised by members of Congress regarding the negative impact of social media on teenagers’ mental health.
A Victory for Parents and Victims of Social Media
“This is a huge victory for the dozens of parents and victims of social media that have been relentlessly pushing their representatives on Capitol Hill to protect kids online,” the two senators said in a statement.
The proposed legislation would require platforms to take proactive measures to prevent specific harms to minors, such as the promotion of suicide, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and drug or alcohol use. Additionally, social media companies would be mandated to implement user controls, including options for limiting screen time, restricting addictive features, and limiting access to user profiles. These management tools would default to the strictest settings for users under the age of 16, and parents would also be provided with tools to manage their children’s time on the platform.
The latest version of the Kids Online Safety Act eliminates the requirement for websites to verify a user’s age before granting access, a policy that has been cautioned against by tech and privacy advocates. Several states have already passed similar bills, with Governor Spencer Cox (R-UT) enacting legislation in March that mandates age verification for teenagers on social media and prohibits features that encourage addictive behavior.
For more information, click here to read the full article from The Washington Examiner.
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