After years of attempts, Sen. Richard Blumenthal thinks his Kids Online Safety Act could finally become law following last week's Democratic "blue wave."
Connecticut and dozens of other states are pushing for the sweeping legislation, but critics have raised privacy and free speech concerns.
SOCIAL MEDIA DANGERS
Andrea Chopite’s kids are too young for social media, but the Southport mother is already worried.
“It gives you anxiety,” she said. “It somehow makes you feel insecure, sometimes for no reason at all.”
The Kids Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to exercise a “duty of care” to prevent bullying, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse and sexual exploitation. For users under 17 years old, the strongest privacy settings would be enabled by default – although the legislation does not require apps to verify a user’s age.
“I’m going to fight for the Kids Online Safety Act, which hopefully will pass before the end of this session,” Blumenthal told reporters on Monday.
Five years ago, Blumenthal’s office posed as a 13-year-old girl on Instagram. The app’s algorithm recommended eating disorder accounts called “Eternally Starved” and “Skin and Bones.”
Since then, tech companies say they’ve made changes.
“We strongly support the Kids Online Safety Act and we’ve already implemented many of its core revisions,” Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told Blumenthal during a 2024 Senate hearing.
FREE SPEECH AND PRIVACY CONCERNS
The Kids Online Safety Act, co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, is stalled in Congress. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a vote in September over free speech concerns – particularly for conservative groups.
“I have no doubt that the authors of this bill genuinely want to protect children, but the bill they have written promises to be a Pandora’s box of unintended consequences,” Paul argued. “Imposing a ‘duty of care’ will inevitably lead to one outcome – the stifling of First Amendment protected speech.”
A U.S. House version of the legislation does not include a “duty of care,” instead requiring platforms to establish “reasonable policies and procedures” to protect kids.
Others are worried about privacy.
Blumenthal’s bill requires the federal government to study whether a user’s device can be used to verify their age "while mitigating risks to user privacy and data security and safeguarding minors’ personal data."
Despite those concerns, Connecticut and 44 other states and territories urged Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act in a Nov. 3 letter. The move comes after a landmark $17 billion settlement with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
“A settlement with one company cannot establish consistent protections for children across the entire technology industry,” the attorneys general wrote. “Congress must act to ensure that our children receive the protections they deserve across all online platforms.”
NEW STATE LAW
Connecticut isn’t waiting for Washington to act. State lawmakers have already passed new restrictions on social media – and are looking at more.
In June, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a new law requiring parental consent to show your child a personalized feed. Plus, those feeds will be limited to one hour a day unless a parent changes the setting. Kids will no longer receive notifications after 9 p.m. and they will see a pop-up warning about the mental health risks of social media.
“I feel like that would help a little,” Chopite said. “Because they’re going to have to, like, fight harder, you know, to get the parents’ consent.”
The new rules don’t take effect until 2028 to give platforms time to prepare.
“We see the damage it’s doing to our young people,” said state Rep. Dave Rutigliano (R-Trumbull). “We see what Roblox is up to.”
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is investigating the online gaming platform Roblox.
The new law also targets artificial intelligence chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT, which will have to make “reasonable efforts” to detect suicidal users and direct them to get help.
“In California, a young boy was coached through death by suicide,” said state Sen. James Maroney (D-Milford). “The chatbot even instructed him to hide the noose marks on his neck and other things so his parents wouldn’t find out.”
