U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., voted Tuesday in favor of a pair of bills aimed at increasing protections for children online.
The two bills, the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, received bipartisan support, passing 91-3.
The legislative package 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. “This package includes two pieces of legislation I cosponsored, and I truly believe it will hold social media companies more accountable and provide parents with important resources to safeguard their children against dangerous and unregulated online content.”
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,” Capito said.
“I’m proud to support this effort, and encourage my colleagues in the House of Representatives to take action on this legislation on behalf of America’s youth and the all too common online risks they face,” she said.
The bills now go to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I encourage House leadership to swiftly bring our bipartisan legislation to the floor, and I will continue doing everything I can to see it across the finish line,” Manchin said.
Dr. Jess Luzier, clinical director of the Disordered Eating Center of Charleston, a professor at the West Virginia School of Medicine, and a clinical psychologist at Charleston Area Medical Center’s Department of Behavioral Medicine, said health care providers are pleased with the legislation’s “guardrails for social media algorithms to promote safer online spaces for our kids.”
“We are especially thrilled that KOSA will reduce the negative impacts of social media on mental health problems like mood disorders, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, bullying and substance use,” Luzier said.