The Senate overwhelmingly passed landmark legislation on Tuesday to protect children from online dangers and ensure social media platforms take measures to safeguard young users.
Lawmakers approved a package of bills that included two bills, the Child Online Safety Act and the Child and Teen Online Privacy Protection Act (commonly known as KOSA and COPPA 2.0), by a vote of 91 to 3, demonstrating strong bipartisan support.
KOSA is one of many bills targeting online dangers and was considered the most likely to pass, with 69 co-sponsors from across the political spectrum.
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where its future is uncertain because the House is on summer recess until September and some lawmakers have argued the bill infringes on free speech.
“The second half may be the toughest in some ways, but it’s also the easiest psychologically because the end is in sight,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, a co-sponsor of the bill, told The New York Times.
If passed by the House of Representatives, KOSA would be a social media platform Fulfilling the “duty of care” – Taking steps to prevent harm online, including bullying, violence, encouragement of suicide, eating disorders, drug dealing and sexual exploitation.
Social media platforms are required to protect the information of minors and disable addictive features and personalized algorithms on children’s accounts.
The bill would require companies to limit minors’ interactions with other users on social media.
The second measure includes amendments to the Children’s Privacy Act, banning online companies from collecting personal information from users under the age of 13, raising the age to 17. It also bans targeted advertising to teenagers and allows them to delete their personal information.
Blumenthal, who co-authored the KOSA bill with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), said the bill is for parents and children. “We are telling the big tech companies that we no longer trust them to make decisions on our behalf.”
Parents of children who have committed suicide after being bullied online are calling on the Senate to vote on a protection bill.
Some parents watched Tuesday’s voting from the gallery above.
Also in the audience was Julianna Arnold of New York, who lost her 17-year-old daughter, Lucienne Conard, known as Coco, to fentanyl poisoning after an Instagram dealer sold her counterfeit Percocet laced with fentanyl.
“It makes me feel like I have a purpose after this horrific event.” Arnold told The New York Times:“It feels good to do something good and bring light to something dark.”
Social media dangers are rampant, with 80% of parents saying their children have experienced some form of online victimization, from illegal content to harassment. Online Security Experts Verifymy.
“The level of harmful and illegal content online today is unacceptable,” Verifymy chief operating officer Andy Lelam said in a statement. “Parents are rightly concerned and are doing all they can to educate and protect their children in their online interactions.”
The House is scheduled to take up the bill in September, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has previously said he would study the bill and try to reach a consensus on it.
Surprisingly, tech giants Snap, X and Microsoft have all said they support the bill.
Snap applauded the bill, saying in a statement last week that “the safety and well-being of young people on Snapchat is our top priority.”
Meanwhile, social media platforms that allow users to send photos that disappear after a timer of a few seconds has expired Frequent cases of child abduction and sexual intimidation.
Mehta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has not taken a clear stance on the bill.
When asked about an older version of the bill in Congress earlier this year, TikTok CEO Shaw Zhu Chiu said the company could support it with some changes.
Supporters of the bill, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had sought a unanimous vote to speed up the bill’s passage, which would allow the Senate, which is short on floor time ahead of the 2024 elections, to avoid lengthy roll-call votes.
Supporters had hoped for a strong, though not unanimous, vote that could hasten House action, and last week’s 86-1 test vote hinted at a resounding vote on Tuesday.
“It hasn’t been easy getting here, that’s for sure. It’s been a long, winding, difficult road.” Schumer said in a statement. on Monday. “But after tomorrow, I’m so proud that all that hard work has paid off.”
Schumer came under fire earlier this month for slowing the bill’s progress after promising to schedule a floor vote by June 20 despite the bill’s widespread support but then failing to do so.
Schumer’s slowdown isn’t the only obstacle preventing the bill from moving forward.
KOSA, written by Blumenthal and Blackburn, seeks to strike a balance between regulating social media and protecting free speech.
Some critics were concerned that vulnerable children would no longer have easy access to important information about LGBTQ issues and reproductive rights, and the bill was amended to address this concern and protect access.
But some lawmakers say the bill still poses too much of a threat to the First Amendment.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has previously said KOSA’s definition of “mental illness” is too broad and could change over time.
“I’ve already had mothers come to me who have experienced tragedy with their children, but someone just needs to have the courage to read the bill and see what’s wrong with it,” Paul said. He told The Huffington Post “If we want it unanimously, we have to negotiate,” they said last month.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wanted assurances that KOSA would not weaken Section 230, the controversial law he co-authored that protects online services from liability for third-party content generated by users, the sources said.
“There are constructive discussions going on about KOSA,” a Wyden aide said. “They’re moving in the right direction. He hasn’t given up any authority yet.”
Meanwhile, parents of children who have committed suicide due to the dangers of social media are calling for the bill to pass the Senate.
Their voices grew louder after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a surprise apology to the families of victims of online child sexual abuse during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill.
