The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a pair of bills designed to boost privacy and other protections for children online, including restrictions on tech platforms’ targeted advertising to minors.
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The bills passed 91-3, a rare bipartisan show of support that reflects years of congressional hearings in which politicians of both parties berated CEOs of major platforms over the failure to restrict certain types of content from teens and kids.
The Kids Online Safety Act requires that platforms include settings to restrict access to minors’ personal data, and tools for parents to give them control over account and privacy settings. Larger websites and social media platforms also will have to disclose the use of algorithms that prioritize information based on user-specific data. The bill also includes a mechanism for parents and kids to report certain harms.
The Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits platforms from collecting personal data of minors without providing notice and obtaining consent, among other things. The legislation also prohibits targeted marketing without the minor’s consent.
The bills next go to the House, where the prospects are uncertain. Lawmakers in that chamber are on recess until September.
“It is in fact those parents and young people who came to Washington — cajoled, convinced, and openly prevailed here,” said Rep. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who co-authored one of the bills.
“Young people will take back control of their own lives. Parents will have tools to safeguard those young people,” Blumenthal told reporters. “They will be able to disconnect from the addictive features and opt out of those black box algorithms that drive at them relentlessly — the eating disorders, bullying, fentanyl, sex exploitation, self harm and, all too often, suicide.”
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The passage of the bills came after years in which lawmakers have talked up the need for legislation, only to see it languish.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared at a hearing in January, in which he was faced with parents of children who had been victims of online exploitation.
“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” he said. “No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industrywide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
Last spring, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed legislation that would require that TikTok’s parent ByteDance divest the app or face it being banned in the U.S.
President Joe Biden said he will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
“There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis,” Biden said in a statement. “Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act.”
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