WASHINGTON — The Senate will consider legislation this week aimed at protecting children from harmful online content, moving forward with what could be the first regulation of the tech industry in decades.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is set to announce on Tuesday that he will bring up a bipartisan bill in the Senate, hoping to pass it before the chamber goes out for the August recess. The legislation has been stalled for months despite more than two-thirds of the Senate signing on to support and support the families of children who have suffered online bullying and the harm it supports.
Schumer said the bill “could change and save lives,” echoing the concerns of parent advocates who say social media and other technology companies need to do more to prevent suicide and other traumas that children and teens experience. that time online.
The online safety bill, which the Senate will consider along with a separate bill to update children’s online privacy laws, will be the first major technology regulatory package to move this year. While there has long been bipartisan support for the idea that the biggest tech companies should face government oversight, there is no consensus on how that should be done. Congress passed legislation earlier this year that would have forced Chinese-owned social media company TikTok to sell or face bans, but the legislation only targeted one company.
The prospects of the bill in the DPR are so far unclear. But if it passes the Senate with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote — as expected — supporters hope it will put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to bring it up before the November election or the end of the session in January.
The child safety bill came together as Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat, and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican, have worked together and with advocacy groups for several years on a compromise rule designed to hold companies more responsible for what children do. see while also ensuring that Congress does not go too far in regulating what individuals should.
The law would create a so-called “duty of care” – a legal term that requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on online platforms that minors will use. The company must reduce and even prevent harm to children, including bullying and violence, promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and advertising of illegal products such as narcotics, tobacco or alcohol.
To achieve this goal, social media platforms must offer minors the option to protect their information, disable addictive product features and opt out of specific algorithmic recommendations. They must also restrict other users from interacting with children and limit features that “enhance, encourage, or extend the use” of the platform – such as auto-play for videos or platform gifts.
In general, online platforms should be the safest settings for accounts that are believed to be minors. The idea, say Blumenthal and Blackburn, is to make the platform “secure by design.”
The senators have worked with parents of children who have died by suicide after being cyberbullied or harmed by social media, including dangerous social media challenges, extortion attempts, eating disorders and drug deals. Schumer said he has met with some of these families in recent months and is “proud to work with them and pass legislation that I believe will be passed.”
“I’ve met families from all over the country who have gone through the worst thing any parent can do — losing a child,” Schumer said. “Instead of retreating into the darkness because of loss, this family lit a candle for others through advocacy.”
Several tech companies, such as Microsoft, X and Snap, supported the bill. Opponents, however, fear that it will violate the First Amendment and harm vulnerable children who will not be able to access information about LGBTQ issues or reproductive rights – although the bill has been revised to address many of these issues, and major LGBTQ groups have decided. to support the proposed legislation.
Along with the online safety bill, the Senate will also consider bipartisan online privacy legislation by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La.. The bill would update the current law that prohibits online companies from collecting personal information from users under 13 by increasing the age to 17.
The bill would also ban ads targeted at users under 17 and allow teens or guardians to delete minors’ personal information.
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AP technology writer Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report.
