Tech Lawmakers show rare bipartisan unity in pursuing protections for kids online
Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee found rare alignment at a recent hearing about how Congress can help protect kids from online harms.
The hearing on Tuesday, which included a parent who lost a child to suicide after cyberbullying, representatives from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the American Psychological Association, points to the importance the new Congress is putting on protecting kids on the internet.
They’re speaking out in support of the Kids Online Safety Act, which would require sites likely to be accessed by kids 16 or younger to maintain certain privacy and safety protections by default. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Commerce Committee last year and was reportedly considered as part of the year-end legislation, though it ultimately didn’t make the cut.
“We must and we will double down on the Kids Online Safety Act,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said at the hearing.
Blackburn and Blumenthal both held up a newly released 2021 study on youth risks from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that mental health is worsening. The survey found 20% of girls and 11% of boys reported being bullied online over the past year.
President Joe Biden is putting his voice behind the movement for change. Following remarks he made at last week’s State of the Union address, Biden said at an event Tuesday that, “We have to pass legislation on the damaging technologies having an effect on our kids.”
