Senate Passes Landmark Bill to Protect Kids and Teens Online
- Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Jul 31, 2024
On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators approved a groundbreaking bill designed to protect children and teens online. Supporters say it is the first major reform to the tech industry since 1998. The Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, passed 91-3, would give parents new controls to protect their children and would require tech companies to enable the strongest privacy settings for kids by default.
In one of the most significant reforms, the bill would create a “duty of care” that requires social media companies to “prevent and mitigate certain harms that they know their platforms and products are causing to young users” -- including harms such as suicide, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and sexual exploitation,” according to a summary of the bill.
Supporters hope the bill’s overwhelming support will spur the House into action.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a supporter, said the bill is much needed.
“Every parent I know is concerned about the online threats directed at kids,” Cruz said. “Whether it’s predators targeting children or online videos promoting self-harm, risky life choices, or undermining their self-esteem, we all know someone who has had to grapple with the failure of Big Tech to take responsibility for the harms caused by its products. Today, the Senate is beginning to put Big Tech on notice.”
Tech companies, Cruz said, “will now have to bear more responsibility to enforce underage online accounts.”
The Parents Television and Media Council applauded the bill’s passage.
“We commend the Senate for recognizing the real harms to children online and acting with urgency to ensure that tech platforms are held accountable for protecting our children,” said Melissa Henson, vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council. “Tech platforms have seen children as an audience to profit from instead of a group to protect from known harms like predators, sexual exploitation, sexually explicit and other harmful content. Now the U.S. House must follow the Senate’s lead and pass this bill.”
U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) released a joint statement celebrating the bill’s passage.
“This legislation provides young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against online harms,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn’s office quoted stats that say children ages 8 to 12 “spend an average of over five hours per day on their screens,” while teenagers “log over eight hours every day.”
Her website said, “When your child is online, they are the product, and Big Tech is trying every method possible to keep them scrolling, clicking ads, and sharing every detail of their life.”
“In today’s age of social media, the statistics on mental health issues among youth are staggering,” Blackburn’s website says. “Almost half of U.S. teens have experienced bullying or harassment online. Between 2010 and 2019, teen depression rates doubled, with teenage girls seeing the sharpest increase. In 2021, almost a third of girls said they seriously considered attempting suicide. Since Big Tech refuses to protect our children, it’s time for Congress to step in.”
Blackburn said the bill:
-- “Requires social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.
-- “Gives parents new controls to help protect their children and spot harmful behaviors.
-- “Creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for certain illegal products.
-- “Ensures that parents and policymakers know whether online platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids by requiring independent audits and research into how these platforms impact the well-being of kids and teens.”
Blumenthal called the passage a “major win for our children.”
The bill is an important first step “in protecting children online,” Cruz said, “but we are not finished.
“More work remains,” he said.
“There’s no good reason for an 8-year-old to be on Instagram or a teenager to be doom-scrolling Twitter in the classroom at taxpayers’ expense,” he said.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/PonyWang
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
