Senate passes bill to protect kids online and make tech companies accountable for harmful content

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The Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation Tuesday that is designed to protect children from dangerous online content, pushing forward with what would be the first major effort by Congress in decades to hold tech companies more accountable for the harm that they cause.

The bill, which passed 91-3, has been pushed by parents of children who died by suicide after online bullying or have otherwise been harmed by online content. It would force companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on online platforms frequently used by minors, requiring them to exercise "duty of care" and ensure that they generally default to the safest settings possible.

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The House has not yet acted on the bill, but Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he is "committed to working to find consensus." Supporters are hoping that the strong Senate vote will push the House to act before the end of the congressional session in January.

Isabella Cimato, 17, from left, Arianna Schaden, 14, and Sofia Harrison, 15, check their phones at Roosevelt Field shopping mall in Garden City, N.Y., on July 27, 2015. The last time Congress passed a law to protect children on the internet was in 1998, before Facebook, the iPhone and long before today's oldest teenagers were born.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The legislation is about allowing children, teens and parents "to take back control of their lives online," said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who wrote the bill with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. He said that the message to big tech companies is that "we no longer trust you to make decisions for us."

The bill would be the first major tech regulation package to move in years, and it could potentially pave the way for other bills that would strengthen online privacy laws or set parameters for the growing use of artificial intelligence, among others. While there has long been bipartisan support for the idea that the biggest technology companies should face more government scrutiny, there has been little consensus on how it should be done. Congress passed legislation earlier this year that would force China-based social media company TikTok to sell or face a ban, but that law only targets one company.

"This is a good first step, but we have more to go," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

If the child safety bill becomes law, companies would be required to mitigate harm to children, including bullying and violence, the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and advertisements for illegal products such as narcotics, tobacco or alcohol.

To do that, social media platforms would have to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations. They would also be required to limit other users from communicating with children and limit features that "increase, sustain, or extend the use" of the platform — such as autoplay for videos or platform rewards.

The idea, Blumenthal and Blackburn say, is for the platforms to be "safe by design."

"The message we are sending to big tech is that kids are not your product," Blackburn said at a news conference as the Senate passed the bill. "Kids are not your profit source. And we are going to protect them in the virtual space."

Several tech companies, including Microsoft, X and Snap, have supported the legislation. But NetChoice, a a tech industry group that represents X and Snap, along with Google, TikTok and Meta Platforms, called it unconstitutional.

Carl Szabo, a vice president and counsel for the group, said in a statement that the law's "cybersecurity, censorship, and constitutional risks remain unaddressed." He did not elaborate.

Blumenthal and Blackburn have said they worked to find a balance between forcing companies to become more responsible for what children see online while also ensuring that Congress does not go too far in regulating what individuals post — an effort to head off potential legal challenges and win over lawmakers who worry that regulation could impose on freedom of expression.

In addition to First Amendment concerns, some critics have said the legislation could harm kids who wouldn’t be able to access information on LGBTQ+ issues or reproductive rights — although the bill has been revised to address many of those criticisms, and major LGBTQ+ groups have decided to support the proposed legislation.

The bill also includes an update to child privacy laws that prohibit online companies from collecting personal information from users under 13, raising that age to 17. It would also ban targeted advertising to teenagers and allow teens or guardians to delete a minor’s personal information.

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, sponsored the original legislation in 1998 — the last time Congress passed a child online safety law — and worked with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana on the update. Markey said that the online space "has come a long way" since the first bill and new tools are needed for parents as teens have struggled with mental health.

As their bill stalled for several months, Blumenthal and Blackburn worked closely with the parents of children who have been harmed by social media — either by cyberbullying or social media challenges, extortion attempts, eating disorders, drug deals or other potential dangers. At an emotional news conference last week, the parents said they were pleased that the Senate is finally moving ahead with the legislation.

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Maurine Molak, the mother of a 16-year-old who died by suicide after "months of relentless and threatening cyberbullying," said she believes the bill can save lives. She urged every senator to vote for it.

"Anyone who believes that children's well-being and safety should come before big tech’s greed ought to put their mark on this historic legislation," Molak said.