Senate Advances Bills to Protect Children’s Online Safety and Privacy

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during the weekly Senate presser in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on July 9, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The Senate has cleared procedural hurdles for two bills that protect children’s safety and privacy online, readying them for a floor vote with a guaranteed passage next Tuesday.

The new legislation significantly updates a decades-old law to safeguard children’s safety on the internet. The rules for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) became effective in 2000, four years before Facebook was created.

“Today, the Senate takes a groundbreaking step toward ensuring our kids’ online safety, a.k.a. social media,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been instrumental in pushing the bills to a floor vote before the summer recess, said on the Senate floor on July 25.

“The bills will provide the appropriate guardrails necessary to protect kids against online threats. It’s not an exaggeration to say these bills will be the most important updates in decades to federal laws that protect kids on the Internet. And it’s a very good first step.”

One of the bills, COPPA 2.0, expands the age limit for protected minors from 13 to 16. It also requires social media platforms to obtain consent from users 13 to 16 before collecting their personal information and bans advertising targeting children and teens.

The other bill, known as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), requires social media companies to take measures to prevent the spread of harmful content related to suicide, eating disorders, bullying, and drugs.

Specifically, KOSA addresses tech companies’ algorithms for keeping users consuming content. It requires tech companies to allow minors to limit the category of recommendations or opt out of personalized recommendation systems that facilitate infinite scrolling.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-K.Y.), the only one who voted “no” to advance the bills, objected to KOSA, citing that the bill was too broad and that it would create a Kids Online Safety Council that he considered as “speech police.” He said KOSA would cause “fear of liability, fear of lawsuits” and lead to self-censorship by social media platforms, which in turn, would stifle freedom of speech.

Mr. Schumer saluted the parents who lost their children due to online harm and worked with him to help carry the bills to the finish line.

“It’s been an honor to get to know these wonderful Americans over the past few months. We’ve met together, felt pain together. We’ve cried together,” he said.

He praised the parents for “turning their grief into grace” and demanding change.

Maurine Molak, co-founder of David’s Legacy Foundation and Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS), was present during the procedural vote. After losing her 16-year-old son to suicide after he experienced cyberbullying, she founded the organizations to advocate for social media companies to take more responsibility in preventing and mitigating online harm to children.

“What a great day,” she told The Epoch Times. “Today the survivor parents made history. We are thrilled that we are one step closer to passage. The memories of our children were with us today, and they are celebrating with us.”

Like COPPA, if the two bills become law, they will be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.

The new legislation passed at a time when parents are increasingly concerned with their children’s safety online.

Inter-Agency Task Force

Last year, the Biden administration established an inter-agency task force to focus on the subject. On July 22, the group issued its first report with recommendations for families, the tech industry, and policymakers for young people’s safety and health.

Although the report doesn’t specify any bills, it recommends “enacting bipartisan federal legislation to protect youth health, safety, and privacy online.” A key recommendation for families is creating a family media plan, including setting screen-free zones and times, and often discussing social media experiences.

According to the report, about 95 percent of teenagers and 40 percent of children between eight and 12 years old use some form of social media.

Vivek Murthy speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 8, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory that excessive use of social media might lead to anxiety and depression. In June, he called for a warning label for social media platforms, similar to the warning on tobacco products.

“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents,” he wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

Three of four voters support the social media warning label, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released June 26. If enacted, KOSA would authorize the warning Dr. Murthy proposed.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee still needs to advance the bills in the lower chamber.