The Senate on Thursday overcame objections to invoke cloture, setting up a vote for passage on two measures relating to children’s privacy and safety online that could result in the first laws in nearly three decades restricting how social media and tech platforms function.
The Senate agreed 86-1 to end debate on a legislative vehicle that combines the two measures.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who had previously objected to the measures, voted to end debate. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the lone objector. The vote on final passage is scheduled for Tuesday.
One measure, sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and co-sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would require tech companies to design online platforms in such a way as to prevent or mitigate harms to users, including sexual exploitation and online bullying. It has 68 other co-sponsors.
Another, sponsored by Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and co-sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and a bipartisan group of 16 other senators, would prohibit online platforms from disseminating children’s personal information without obtaining a verifiable parental consent, effectively ending ads targeted at kids and teens. The bill would raise the age of children protected to 17, from 12 and below under current law.
Congress last enacted legislation to address the collection of personal information on children by online platforms in 1998.
The two pieces of legislation are meant to mitigate social media practices aimed at keeping kids online and promoting addictive behavior. The push for them comes in part after whistleblowers from Facebook and Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms Inc., testified before Congress that the company had ignored internal warnings about the dangers children face.
The Blumenthal-Blackburn bill would cover social media platforms and apps but would exempt internet service providers, email services, educational institutions and nonprofit entities. The bill also requires platforms to provide safeguards, including settings that restrict access to the personal data of users, and give parents or guardians tools to supervise the use of platforms by children.
The Federal Trade Commission as well as state attorneys general would have authority to enforce the law, and would establish an advisory council that would recommend ways to implement the bill.
Paul, who had objected to the bill being passed through unanimous consent, said vague wording would allow government bureaucrats to determine what content is and is not allowed.
“This bill is a Pandora’s Box for censorship,” Paul said on the Senate floor.
Countering Paul’s arguments, Blumenthal said the bill “is very specific, not vague, and is narrowly targeted” and is intended to “to protect children and give parents and children choices.”
Blumenthal likened the bill’s provisions to requiring carmakers to add seat belts and airbags to improve safety.
Social media platforms have for years promised to address addictive behaviors caused by their platforms but have failed to do so, Blumenthal said.
“We are no longer going to trust Big Tech to do the job,” Blumenthal said. “We’re determined to make the product safer by empowering kids and their parents.”
Markey, addressing his bill, said on the floor before the vote that tech platforms are vacuuming up large quantities of data on children including their “weight, health conditions, fingerprints and facial skin texture, their likes and dislikes, even their sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Tech companies are using the data to push targeted advertising “chosen to match the user’s specific age, location, and interest” and also tailored to be displayed when users are most likely to click on the messages, Markey said.
The growing role of artificial intelligence systems means that targeted advertising could become even more tailored to individual users, he said.
The bill would change the standard for how social media platforms and apps determine if a user is a minor below the age of 17. Under existing law, tech companies only need to comply if they have actual knowledge if someone is below the age of 13. The Markey-Cassidy bill requires compliance based on age implied by algorithms and other means.
The White House issued a statement of administration policy on Thursday in support of the combined measure, calling it “a landmark bill to protect the online safety, privacy, and health of children and teenagers.”
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