Xorte logo

News Markets Groups

USA | Europe | Asia | World| Stocks | Commodities



Add a new RSS channel

 
 


Keywords

2025-01-28 17:05:35| Engadget

Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are re-introducing a bill that aims to ban social media platforms from knowingly letting kids aged under 13 from using them. The bipartisan Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) was introduced last year, but it didn't progress beyond the committee stage. However, KOSMA may pick up more momentum this time around given the current political landscape. I'm going to do everything I can to get it passed out of committee and advanced on the floor [...] and signed into law, Cruz told The Washington Post. Ted and I are in the middle of about two dozen different disagreements and disputes, but the one thing that seems to unite the political parties is that we need to protect small children from the negative outcomes of being on social media, Schatz said. Cruz is now the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee (which has become a prominent battleground for social media-related issues in recent years). Not only that, Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress while Lina Khan is no longer head of the Federal Trade Commission. Under KOSMA, that agency would have extra regulatory power over social media platforms. Some Republicans were reluctant to hand Khan those reins. I think that [Khan's stint as FTC chair] understandably caused significant reluctance on the part of Congress to entrust any additional authority on the FTC, Cruz said. If KOSMA becomes law as it stands, social media platforms would have to delete any accounts held by users aged under 13 as well as any data collected from those children. It would also block them from using data collected from users aged under 17 to algorithmically suggest or promote content. Furthermore, it stipulates that schools would have to block students from accessing social media services on school devices and networks in order to keep receiving certain subsidies. Schatz was among a bipartisan group of senators that introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act in 2023. That bill aimed to set 13 as the minimum age for using social media, and require parental consent for under 18s to access such platforms. However, the bill did not pass through the Commerce Committee. Last July, two online safety bills that ostensibly sought to protect minors, the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act and the much-derided Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote. However, neither passed through the House before the previous Congress ended on January 3.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/senators-again-attempt-to-ban-pre-teens-from-social-media-160535890.html?src=rss


Category: Marketing and Advertising

 

Latest from this category

25.02Slice-of-life soccer game Despelote kicks off on May 1
24.02Sigma's latest camera is so minimalist it doesn't have a memory card slot
24.02Xbox showcase gave release dates for three indie games we're looking forward to
24.02Tron: Catalyst hits consoles and PC on June 17
24.02Anthropics new Claude model can think both fast and slow
24.02Here's how to get MagSafe charging on an iPhone 16e
24.02How to follow the Amazon devices event on February 26
24.02Balatro is about to hook a lot more players now that it's on Game Pass
Marketing and Advertising »

All news

25.02Slice-of-life soccer game Despelote kicks off on May 1
24.02Stocks Slightly Lower into Final Hour on Global Growth Worries, Earnings Outlook Jitters, Technical Selling, Tech/Alt Energy Sector Weakness
24.02Sigma's latest camera is so minimalist it doesn't have a memory card slot
24.02Trump says Canada and Mexico tariffs are going forward with more import taxes to come
24.02Tomorrow's Earnings/Economic Releases of Note; Market Movers
24.02Bull Radar
24.02Bear Radar
24.02Xbox showcase gave release dates for three indie games we're looking forward to
More »
Privacy policy . Copyright . Contact form .