WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is throwing his support behind bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that would protect children online and hold social media companies accountable.

The Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1409) would provide kids and parents with better tools to protect themselves online, hold tech and social media accountable for harms to children, and provide transparency into black box algorithms.  Essentially, the bill would require companies to default to stringent privacy and safety settings, rather than putting the onus on youth and parents to navigate through complicated platforms.  Tech companies would be required to “exercise reasonable care” to prevent their products from endangering child users, including through design features that could exacerbate depression, sexual exploitation, bullying, harassment and other harms.

“Ensuring a safe environment online should be the default, especially for children.  I support this comprehensive, bipartisan proposal to increase transparency, strengthen online safeguards, and ensure that tech companies and social media companies are more accountable,” said Senator Reed.  “This will provide new tools for parents to protect their kids and ensure tech companies are taking steps to help mitigate potential harm to users.”

“This overwhelming bipartisan support for the Kids Online Safety Act—62 total co-sponsors, Democrats and Republicans—reflects the powerful voices of young people and parents who want Congress to act,” said Blumenthal and Blackburn in a joint statement. “The recent watershed hearing with Big Tech CEOs showcased the urgent need for reform. With new changes to strengthen the bill and growing support, we should seize this moment to take action. We must listen to the kids, parents, experts, and advocates, and finally hold Big Tech accountable by passing the Kids Online Safety Act into law.”

Additional cosponsors of the Kids Online Safety Act include: U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Todd Young (R-IN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mark Warner (D-VA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Peter Welch (D-VT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jim Risch (R-ID), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Katie Britt (R-AL), Bob Casey (D-PA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Joe Manchin (D-WV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Carper (D-DE), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ben Cardin (D-MD), James Lankford (R-OK), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), John Thune (R-SD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Josh Hawley (R-MO), with U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Susan Collins (R-ME), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Angus King (I-ME), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).

The Kids Online Safety Act is also strongly supported by a broad coalition of parents who have tragically lost their children or whose kids have been severely harmed by Big Tech, young people who want to regain control over their online lives, and hundreds of advocacy groups and experts who study and see the negative effects of social media firsthand in their communities.

In close coordination with stakeholders and Congressional colleagues, several recent changes were made to strengthen the legislation and clarify the language.  The updated bill text can be found here.  

Specifically, the Kids Online Safety Act:

  • Requires social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.
  • Platforms are required to enable the strongest privacy settings for kids by default.
  • Gives parents new controls to help protect their children and spot harmful behaviors, and provides parents and educators with a dedicated channel to report harmful behavior.
  • Creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for certain illegal products (e.g. tobacco and alcohol).
  • Ensures that parents and policymakers know whether online platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids by requiring independent audits and research into how these platforms impact the well-being of kids and teens.
  • Provides academic and public interest organizations with access to critical datasets from social media platforms to foster research regarding harms to the safety and well-being of minors.