Reed Stumps for Bill to Better Protect Kids Online

WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to protect kids from the risks posed by the internet and social media and to hold Big Tech accountable for harming a generation of young Americans, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is a cosponsor of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The bill mandates social media companies limit addictive design features and set protective default settings for minor users.

This week, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation's unanimously approved KOSA by voice vote, teeing it up for consideration by the full U.S. Senate.

This legislation (S.1748), which is championed by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would provide kids and parents with better tools to protect children online, hold tech and social media accountable for harms to children, and provide transparency into black box algorithms.

Essentially, the bill would require companies to default to stringent privacy and safety settings, rather than putting the onus on youth and parents to navigate through complicated platforms. Tech companies would be required to "exercise reasonable care" to prevent their products from endangering child users, including through design features that could exacerbate depression, sexual exploitation, bullying, harassment and other harms.

"Americans are over Big Tech companies knowingly putting their profits ahead of children's safety. I support this comprehensive, bipartisan proposal to increase transparency, strengthen online safeguards, and ensure that tech companies and social media companies are more accountable," said Senator Reed. "This will provide new tools for parents to protect their kids, including options to disable addictive product features. I urge Senate Republican leaders to put the bipartisan bill on the floor and pass a clean bill so we can ensure a safer environment online for all."

This week, a judge in New Mexico ordered that Meta, the parent company of brands such as Facebook and Instagram, pay a total of $942 million to address harms to kids from social media.

The Kids Online Safety Act is strongly supported by a broad coalition of parents, including those who have tragically lost their children or whose kids have been severely harmed by Big Tech; young people who want to regain control over their online lives; and hundreds of advocacy groups and experts who study and see the negative effects of social media firsthand in their communities.

Specifically, the Kids Online Safety Act:

• Requires social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.

• Platforms are required to enable the strongest privacy settings for kids by default.

• Gives parents new controls to help protect their children and spot harmful behaviors, and provides parents and educators with a dedicated channel to report harmful behavior.

• Creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for certain illegal products (e.g. tobacco and alcohol).

• Ensures that parents and policymakers know whether online platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids by requiring independent audits and research into how these platforms impact the well-being of kids and teens.

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