We applaud U.S. senators, including West Virginia’s own Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, for advancing the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. The bills passed the Senate on Tuesday with 91 votes in favor.

The bills would update data privacy rules and provide parents and educators with the “tools and transparency needed to shield children and teens from the negative impacts of social media,” Manchin said.

“We must stand together to protect our children’s well-being from the profound risks of the internet and social media. I proudly voted for the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, which includes much-needed updates to data privacy rules and protections for children and teens on the internet,” he said.

Capito said it is “past time that Congress hold social media companies accountable for the risks they pose to our youth.”

“The bipartisan passage of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act sends the message to online platforms that they must be responsible for the content provided to our children, and tools must be in place to empower parents and prevent harm,” she said.

The legislation’s safeguards include: Requiring social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features and opt out of algorithmic recommendations; prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent, as well as banning targeted advertising to children and teens; providing parents with new controls to help support their children and identify harmful behaviors, and providing parents and educators with a dedicated channel to report harms; requiring social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harm to minors, including any promotion of self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and advertisement of unlawful products to minors (e.g. gambling and alcohol).

The bills appear to have strong support from the medical community and other child welfare advocates, and would be a positive step toward providing children and teens, and their parents, with ways to make social media safer.

The House should move the bills toward passage in an expedited fashion.