US Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Bipartisan “Kids Online Safety Act”
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The United States Senate on Tuesday (July 30) voted overwhelmingly to approve bipartisan legislation intended to protect children from dangerous online content and hold tech companies to better account for harm suffered by minors on the internet, CBS News reports.
Passed 91-3, the “Kids Online Safety Act: was written and introduced by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. The legislation was prepared in response to pleas from parents whose children committed suicide as a result of online bullying or other dangerous content, CBS said.
The bill places a “duty of care” on tech companies, requiring them to take “reasonable” steps to prevent harm on online platforms frequently used by minors.
“The message we are sending to big tech is that kids are not your product,” Sen. Blackburn said during a press briefing Tuesday. “Kids are not your profit source,” she said.
Sen. Blumenthal of Connecticut added that the bill’s message to tech companies is: “We no longer trust you to make decisions for us.”
The bill must be approved by the US House of Representatives before it can be signed into law by the President. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La said Tuesday that he was “committed to working to find consensus” but had not decided whether to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote, CBS News reports.
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