Austin News

July 30, 2024

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the Senate's passage of two child online protection bills he has cosponsored: the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below.

“Every day, our children see content online about suicide, eating disorders, and drug use, and the statistics on teen suicide and mental health paint an alarming picture for the next generation,” said Sen. Cornyn. “These bills strike the right balance between First Amendment rights and safety, and I’m proud the Senate has finally taken an important step to help keep America’s children safe online.”

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led the Kids Online Safety Act, while Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) led the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act.

The Kids Online Safety Act aims to provide kids and parents with tools, safeguards, and transparency to protect against threats to children’s health and wellbeing online by:

- Requiring social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations;

- Giving parents new tools to support their children and providing a dedicated channel to report any harm to kids on those platforms;

- Creating a duty for online platforms to prevent specific dangers to minors in their product designs;

- Requiring large social media platforms to perform an annual independent audit assessing risks to minors;

- Fostering research regarding harms to minors' online safety by requiring a study from the National Academies on social media's impact on youth.

The Kids Online Safety Act is cosponsored by more than 70 Senators and endorsed by over 250 organizations including Common Sense Media, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Digital Progress Institute among others.

In 1998, Congress passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which instituted basic privacy protections for users under 13 years old. The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act seeks updates in light of major changes in the online landscape by:

- Prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users aged 13 to 16 without consent;

- Banning targeted advertising to children and teens;

- Revising COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard;

- Creating an “Eraser Button” for parents and kids allowing them to eliminate personal information when feasible;

- Establishing a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” limiting personal information collection from teens;

- Establishing a Youth Marketing and Privacy Division at the Federal Trade Commission.

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act is cosponsored by more than 20 Senators with endorsements from various organizations including #HalfTheStory, Academy for Eating Disorders, American Academy of Pediatrics among others.