Social Media Child Safety Bill Deadlocked

Social Media Child Safety Bill Deadlocked

By: Donny Simcha Guttman

In recent months, deadlock has ensued in Congress on passing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).  The bill, originally introduced by Republican and Democrat senators, Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would attempt to protect kids from online bullying, harassment, and sexual extortion. Though the bill has overwhelming bipartisan support with 69 senators signing on the bill, there have been objections from more libertarian-leaning senators, Rand Paul and Ron Wyden.

The bill, which has been advocated by parents of children who have been victims of social media bullying, has continued to lobby the bill. Director of online advocacy group Fairplay, Josh Golin, said that, “it’s remarkable that the parents have gotten things this far. I can’t even quantify how much we’re outspent and outgunned by the tech industry.” Some parents like,  Mary Rodee, whose son, Riley, committed suicide as a result of a sextortion scandal on Meta (formerly known as Facebook), has blamed Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for the bill getting held up, “I cannot understand why he’s not bringing it to the floor. I just have to keep being like, ‘Okay, I guess that’s not the plan.’ But that all seems like it’s a political dog-and-pony show.”

The call to pass KOSA received further momentum after a controversial senate hearing a few months ago with Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg who dramatically at the hearing apologized to victim families sitting behind him. In response, Rodee said, “you [Schumer] gave Mark Zuckerberg a stage to apologize to us that he didn’t deserve. To me, that never should have happened. I have distrust in all of it.” A Schumer spokesperson has said that the senator  “has helped build bipartisan support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and has met with the families, heard their incredibly moving stories, and is working in lockstep with them to get the bill passed. Leader Schumer will continue to push to lift frivolous holds so we can finally pass this bill and protect millions of American children across the country.”

Part of the reason for delay on the bill’s passage is that before a bill can be voted on in the Senate, unanimous consent to file closure must be achieved, unless the majority leader can round up 60 senators to advance the bill to a full-floor vote. In a recent letter to the parents, Senator Schumer pledged to pass the bill by June 20th; now that the deadline has passed, advocates of the bill have continued to pressure the majority leader to bring the bill to the floor. However, this week, in a setback for the bill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee delayed a final mark-up of the bill as Republican leadership has pushed back on the bill.

Opponents, including the American League of Civil Liberties claimed that the bill was “a dangerous censorship bill that would give the government unprecedented control over the internet.” Senator Blackburn released a statement in response saying that, “Senator Blackburn has fought for years to protect our children online and looks forward to seeing KOSA signed into law.”

In recent years, with the rise and popularity of social media among young kids and teenagers, the negative effects, including social isolation, and addiction among kids have made it a forefront issue for government to reign in big tech, which has inadvertently caused horrific results for vulnerable kids. Last year, US Surgeon General, Vivek Murphy labeled social media as a major contributor of social isolation which he says is equivalent to smoking over a box of cigarettes a day. Furthermore, there have been some states that have been trying to get social media apps to put label warnings to help \kids and parents from downloading potentially dangerous apps.