Social Media Harms

Bipartisan Legislation Protecting Minors Online Approved by U.S. Senate Commerce Committee

Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teens Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Forwarded to Senate Majority Leader Schumer For Next Steps

Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved both KOSA and COPPA on July 22, 2022. Both bills will be forwarded to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to be approved for debate and voting by the full Senate.

Committee Chair, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) highlighted important new protections included in these bills:

“[COPPA] ensures that all minors — not just those under-13 — are protected, and establishes protections for teens. This bill would close a loophole that has been allowing companies to abuse the data of children with little accountability, making it harder for the FTC to prove violations.

Among other important protections, KOSA includes a duty of loyalty that obligates platforms to prevent harms to minors, establishes safeguards for minors in their use of platforms, and includes important transparency requirements.

This bill would also provide a way for researchers to study the effects of platforms on children and teens.”

KOSA creates a legal obligation requiring technology companies to operate in the best interests of minors 16 and under who use their services.

KOSA:

1. Empowers the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and states Attorneys General to implement controls on technology companies that do not follow regulations that protect children 16 and under from social media harms, especially around depression, suicide, and eating disorders;

2. Provides parents and youth tools and safeguards to protect a young user’s experience on social media.

3. Allows scientists access to social media company data to conduct research in the public interest.

COPPA:

1. Bans targeted advertising for children;
2. Builds on the 1998 COPPA’s consent requirements by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from children 13 to 15 years old without the user’s consent;
3. Establishes a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” that limits the collection of their personal information Requires online companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is used and disclosed, and the policies for collection of personal information

Now is the time to contact your senators and ask them to endorse these important laws.

Social Media Harms was developed to provide a listing of peer-reviewed studies, books and articles from authoritative sources that document the negative effects of social media use. It is a free resource for people who are concerned about social media’s negative effects on people’s emotions, actions and lives.