With Social Media Harms Threatening Children, Congress Needs to Pass Online Child Protection Bills

LOS ANGELES (November 12, 2024) – As Congress returns for a lame duck session, the Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) is calling on the U.S. House to prioritize passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (H.R. 7891) and the Child and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 7890).

“Big Tech continues to evade accountability for ensuring their platforms protect children, and the industry has employed countless scare tactics to thwart these bills’ momentum in Congress. The time for Congress to act is now, as social media harms that target our children continue to escalate. Protecting children from predators, sextortion, sexual exploitation, addictive features, and explicit sexual and violent content online cannot wait for another year,” said Melissa Henson, vice president, Parents Television and Media Council.

In the last few months, it was reported that:

• 14 state Attorneys General filed lawsuits against the popular social media platform TikTok, alleging that the platform is designed to be addictive to children and teens.
• As part of the revelations in these lawsuits, it was reported that TikTok’s own internal investigation revealed that teens as young as 15 were being paid by adults to strip on TikTok’s “live” feature. According to NPR, “TikTok executives were acutely aware of the potential harm the app can cause teens, but appeared unconcerned.”
• New Mexico sued Snap (Snapchat parent company) “alleging that the messaging app's policies and design features facilitate the sharing of child sexual exploitation material,” according to Reuters.
• The U.S. Surgeon General called for adding “warning labels” to social media platforms, citing mental health and other concerns. “There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place, no assurance that trusted experts have investigated and ensured that these platforms are safe for our kids,” he wrote.

KOSA is designed to hold social media companies and other digital platforms accountable for protecting children online and requires stringent safety and privacy settings to be on by default. The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) expands privacy protections to teens and for children under age 13.