Kid’s Online Safety Act in spotlight after hearing

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Five Big Tech CEOs faced a lot of scrutiny at a tense Senate hearing on Wednesday. 

One such notable interaction was Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg apologizing to families who say they’ve suffered due to social media’s impact on children. 

Families and children who say they’ve experienced trauma through social media spoke their minds on Capitol Hill.

One youth activist asked, “How many more of my friends have to be harmed, abused, extorted or taken advantaged, killed, or forced into taking their own life?”

This hearing came as lawmakers begin to consider to Kid’s Online Safety Act, a bill that would require social media platforms to automatically disable data collection on users under 17.

Several Senators, including Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, say they’re not satisfied with the answers they heard from Big Tech on Wednesday, who say they are increasing spending on their platform’s safety.

Senator Blackburn said, “Just the unwillingness of some of these CEOs to admit that their platforms were being used for activities that causes to kids to be bullied.”

Senator Blackburn was one of the primary sponsors of the Kid’s Online Safety Act when it was introduced in May 2023.

She believes the bill is close to a vote and that it’s gaining support across Capitol Hill. 

Senator Blackburn said, “We have about half the Senate as co-sponsors at this point, and we have over 200 organizations that are supporting. It is all bi-partisan in nature, and we have continued to work with people to fine tune this to make certain that this is legislation that is going to protect children in the virtual space.”

Senator Blackburn says she expects a vote on this legislation sometime this spring.