Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Tuesday announced that a bipartisan bill she cosponsored with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called the “Kids Online Safety Act” is headed to the Senate floor for a vote.
“It’s official: the Kids Online Safety Act is getting a vote on the Senate Floor. This progress is a testament to the incredible work of parents and young people whose personal experiences are the heart of this bill,” Blackburn said in a press release. “They came to DC over and over again, told their stories to lawmakers, wrote letters, and never gave up on demanding change. We are grateful to be in this fight with such brave and tenacious friends and allies.”
The bill “provides kids and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against threats to children’s health and wellbeing online,” according to a fact sheet from Blumenthal’s office.
It would require social media companies to disable “addictive product features” and allow users to opt out of personalized algorithmic content suggestions, which are meant to induce users into spending more time on social media.
The bill also:
- Creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, advertisements for certain illegal products (e.g. tobacco and alcohol), and other matters.
- Requires large social media platforms to perform an annual independent audit that assesses the risks to minors, their compliance with this act, and whether the platform is taking meaningful steps to prevent those harms.
“We thank Senator Schumer for taking this essential procedural step forward and for standing with us, the parents, and young people,” Blackburn said in the release. “We also appreciate Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz for helping us get this bill passed. With overwhelming support in the Senate, we look forward to taking one step closer to seeing this bill signed into law.”
At the state level, the Tennessee General Assembly has taken steps to prevent children from viewing potentially harmful online content.
On May 5, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed into law H.B. 1891, sponsored by State Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland).
Beginning on January 1, 2025, parents will not only have to verify their children’s age and give them consent to access social media, but social media companies will also have to give parents the ability to monitor their children’s social media activities and set time limits for social media use.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X/Twitter.
