U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a memo this week clarifying elements of her and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) Kids Online Safety Act, which passed the Senate in July, amid what the senator is calling “lies” being circulated about the legislation.
The Kids Online Safety Act seeks to “protect minors from online harms” by requiring social media companies to “take reasonable measures” to “prevent and mitigate” children from being harmed while using their platforms, including through sexual exploitation or online bullying.
Despite the bill’s goal to “protect minors” from online harm, Big Tech companies have since rallied against the bill, branding the legislation as a “censorship” package, according to a report by The New York Post.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) also recently spoke out against the bill, saying that while he “likes the idea behind” the legislation, its current version has “big issues.”
In the memo released Monday, Blackburn said that the Kids Online Safety Act does not censor speech, increase the authority of the federal government or Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or impose age verification requirements, instead explaining that the legislation gives the FTC the ability to hold social media platforms accountable for their product designs.
“The bill gives the FTC the ability to hold social media platforms accountable for their product designs – their own predatory business practices and deadly apps. This is the same responsibility and accountability that exists for almost every other industry in America,” Blackburn explained.
“The duty of care simply states that online platforms cannot put products on the market that will cause specific harms to kids, such as suicide and sexual predation. Those harms are specified and defined by Congress, not the FTC,” Blackburn added. “Big Tech will be required to ensure their platforms are safe for kids by default, and not put the burden exclusively on parents. This will also ensure that the protections for kids keep up with changes in technology.”
Blackburn also explained the bill’s creation of a Kids Online Safety Council, which the senator said gives parents “a seat at the table” with Big Tech.
“For decades, Big Tech lobbyists and their front groups have dominated the conversation, denying the suffering of American families. The Kids Online Safety Council is a place where parents have a seat across the table from Big Tech and they can raise the issues they are seeing with their kids,” Blackburn explained while also clarifying, “The Council has no rulemaking or enforcement power.”
The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate earlier this year by a 91-3 vote.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
