Senate passes online child safety bills

The Senate passed substantial legislation on Tuesday aimed at protecting children and teens from harmful internet and social media content. It also requires tech companies to enforce privacy and safety measures in their products.

Senators voted 91 to 3 to approve the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. The bills now head to the House, which is on recess till September, for approval. It is expected to face resistance in Congress.

The two bills also face intense criticism from civil liberty unions, technology and social media companies who say it is essentially an online censorship legislation.

The bills require technology and social media companies to set the highest privacy and safety settings by default for users under 17 and restrict some addictive features, such as video auto-playing.

Proponents of the bills that include parents of children who were cyberbullied and driven to commit suicide say such protections are needed as social media affects kids’ mental health and can lead to eating disorders, substance abuse and sexual exploitation.

The US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, recently called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms.

A February report from Gallup and Walton Family Foundation shows that Gen Z has the poorest mental health of any generation, with several studies associating it with social media and large amounts of screen time.