U.S. Senate votes to force social media platforms to protect kids online

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed authorities Tuesday that is designed to protect children from vulnerable online content, pushing guardant pinch what would beryllium nan first awesome effort by Congress successful decades to clasp tech companies much accountable for nan harm that they cause.

The bill, which passed 91-3, has been pushed by parents of children who died by termination aft online bullying aliases person different been harmed by online content. It would unit companies to return reasonable steps to forestall harm connected online platforms often utilized by minors, requiring them to workout “duty of care” and guarantee that they mostly default to nan safest settings possible.

The House has not yet acted connected nan bill, but Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he is “committed to moving to find consensus.” Supporters are hoping that nan beardown Senate ballot will push nan House to enactment earlier nan extremity of nan legislature convention successful January.

The authorities is astir allowing children, teens and parents “to return backmost power of their lives online,” said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who wrote nan measure pinch Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. He said that nan connection to large tech companies is that “we nary longer spot you to make decisions for us.”

The measure would beryllium nan first awesome tech regularisation package to move successful years, and it could perchance pave nan measurement for different bills that would fortify online privateness laws aliases group parameters for nan increasing usage of artificial intelligence, among others. While location has agelong been bipartisan support for nan thought that nan biggest exertion companies should look much authorities scrutiny, location has been small statement connected really it should beryllium done. Congress passed authorities earlier this twelvemonth that would unit China-based societal media institution TikTok to waste aliases look a ban, but that rule only targets 1 company.

“This is simply a bully first step, but we person much to go,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

If nan kid information measure becomes law, companies would beryllium required to mitigate harm to children, including bullying and violence, nan promotion of suicide, eating disorders, constituent abuse, intersexual exploitation and advertisements for forbidden products specified arsenic narcotics, baccy aliases alcohol.

To do that, societal media platforms would person to supply minors pinch options to protect their information, disable addictive merchandise features and opt retired of personalized algorithmic recommendations. They would besides beryllium required to limit different users from communicating pinch children and limit features that “increase, sustain, aliases widen nan use” of nan level — specified arsenic autoplay for videos aliases level rewards.

The idea, Blumenthal and Blackburn say, is for nan platforms to beryllium “safe by design.”

“The connection we are sending to large tech is that kids are not your product,” Blackburn said astatine a news convention arsenic nan Senate passed nan bill. “Kids are not your profit source. And we are going to protect them successful nan virtual space.”

Several tech companies, including Microsoft, X and Snap, person supported nan legislation. But NetChoice, a a tech manufacture group that represents X and Snap, on pinch Google, TikTok and Meta Platforms, called it unconstitutional.

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Carl Szabo, a vice president and counsel for nan group, said successful a connection that nan law’s “cybersecurity, censorship, and law risks stay unaddressed.” He did not elaborate.

Blumenthal and Blackburn person said they worked to find a equilibrium betwixt forcing companies to go much responsible for what children spot online while besides ensuring that Congress does not spell excessively acold successful regulating what individuals station — an effort to caput disconnected imaginable ineligible challenges and triumph complete lawmakers who interest that regularisation could enforce connected state of expression.

In summation to First Amendment concerns, immoderate critics person said nan authorities could harm kids who wouldn’t beryllium capable to entree accusation connected LGBTQ+ issues aliases reproductive authorities — though nan measure has been revised to reside galore of those criticisms, and awesome LGBTQ+ groups person decided to support nan projected legislation.

The measure besides includes an update to kid privateness laws that prohibit online companies from collecting individual accusation from users nether 13, raising that property to 17. It would besides prohibition targeted advertizing to teenagers and let teens aliases guardians to delete a minor’s individual information.

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, sponsored nan original authorities successful 1998 — nan past clip Congress passed a kid online information rule — and worked pinch Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana connected nan update. Markey said that nan online abstraction “has travel a agelong way” since nan first measure and caller devices are needed for parents arsenic teens person struggled pinch intelligence health.

As their measure stalled for respective months, Blumenthal and Blackburn worked intimately pinch nan parents of children who person been harmed by societal media — either by cyberbullying aliases societal media challenges, extortion attempts, eating disorders, supplier deals aliases different imaginable dangers. At an affectional news convention past week, nan parents said they were pleased that nan Senate is yet moving up pinch nan legislation.

Maurine Molak, nan mother of a 16-year-old who died by termination aft “months of relentless and threatening cyberbullying,” said she believes nan measure tin prevention lives. She urged each legislator to ballot for it.

“Anyone who believes that children’s well-being and information should travel earlier large tech’s greed ought to put their people connected this historical legislation,” Molak said.