Applauds the Senate’s Bipartisan Efforts to Uphold Youth Safety Online
NEWTOWN, Conn. — July 30, 2024 – the Senate passed legislation that put forth more protections to prevent children from being exposed to harmful content on social media with the Kids Online Safety & Privacy Act, a combination of two bills — the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Sandy Hook Promise applauds the bipartisan group of lawmakers who worked to pass these important safeguards for children, including leadership from Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). If signed into law, these protections will create safer environments online for children, reduce their exposure to content that can negatively affect their mental health, and prevent tragedies that can result from repeatedly consuming harmful content.
As social media platforms use data in increasingly sophisticated ways, children’s personal information is more prone to exposing them to potentially dangerous content including material related to self-harm, bullying, and other harmful content. With the recent U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory about the “profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being” of social media on young lives and a youth mental health crisis raging, there is an urgent need to create safer online environments by implementing heightened privacy protections for all young people.
The Kids Online Safety & Privacy Act will create stronger online privacy protections for children under age 17, as well as ban targeted advertising to kids and teens. It also creates a “duty of care” that requires social media companies to prevent harmful content from reaching children online, including content related to suicide and violence.
Based on recommendations from Sandy Hook Promise, the legislation also ensures that both parents and youth will have a voice in decision-making about the content – reflecting the organization’s firm belief that to make progress on youth safety, we must incorporate the perspectives and insights of young people themselves.
“These important pieces of legislation play a critical role in ensuring that children are protected from harmful content on social media by limiting their exposure to intentionally provocative messaging that preys on their vulnerability,” said Mark Barden, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and father of Daniel, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. “This legislation can have a significant impact on improving youth mental health and safety by limiting the direct and third-party marketing of harmful content to young people.
“We are thankful to Senators Blumenthal, Blackburn, Markey, and Cassidy for their leadership in the passage of these important bills — and especially for their bipartisan work to make this a reality. This progress demonstrates the critical impact bipartisanship has in advancing important legislation that will protect young people from harm in their community, both off and online, and we now urge the House of Representatives to take action,” Barden continued.
Through its enhanced data privacy protections, the passage of this legislation will play a significant role in limiting aggressive online marketing tactics that take advantage of children’s underdeveloped brains and put the onus on social media companies to offer more protections from harmful content being pushed into children’s social media feeds.
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The Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund (SHPAF) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization committed to protecting all children from gun violence in schools, homes, and communities. The SHP Action Fund advances a holistic policy platform that promotes gun safety, youth mental health, and violence prevention education. The organization works at the state and federal level to pass nonpartisan legislation through inclusive partnerships, diverse grassroots education, and community mobilization. It is part of Sandy Hook Promise, founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Media Contact:
Aimee Thunberg | [email protected] | 646-761-5579