A U.S. Senate hearing earlier this month — featuring whistleblower testimony from former researchers at Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta — offered an opportunity for Sen. Richard Blumenthal to reactivate his campaign for the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that would require social platforms to do more to mitigate harms attributed to the ways children use their technology.
Blumenthal held a press conference in Hartford, where he called for Meta to release its internal research about risks to youth safety and its parental safety tools. The remarks came two weeks after former Meta safety researchers testified to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law that the company covered up internal research that would have raised concerns about harmful effects on children of Meta’s virtual reality products.
“We are in the midst of a mental health crisis among young people that is aggravated and exacerbated relentlessly by social media,” he said, speaking outside The Village for Families & Children, which provides behavioral health services for children.
Blumenthal has said his online safety bill, known as KOSA, would hold companies like Meta accountable and make more safety settings available on social platforms. “The research and the facts so far from these whistleblowers provide powerful documentation to the need for stronger measures for kids’ online safety,” he said.
While Congress is in the midst of a standoff over funding, Blumenthal said he’s hopeful for KOSA’s prospects once the funding issues are worked out.
But it’s already been a long road for the proposed bill.
Blumenthal was first drawn to this issue in 2021 by another whistleblower — former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen, who leaked documents showing Instagram’s effect on the mental health of teenage girls in 2021.
He first drafted the legislation, with Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, in 2022.
Last year’s version of the bill, which Blumenthal and Blackburn cosponsored, passed the Senate handily in a 91-3 vote. A reworked version passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, but Congress adjourned before the full House could vote, requiring the process to start over again.
Blumenthal and Blackburn reintroduced the bill this May.
The bill would allow addictive features and algorithmic recommendations to be disabled by users. It would establish what’s referred to as a “duty of care” requirement for tech companies to prevent harms to minors on their sites, and require annual independent audits of these risks. It would also create an 11-member bipartisan council of academics, researchers, parents, and young people to provide recommendations.
Opponents have argued the bill could lead to censorship and free speech violations. Some groups focusing on privacy and LGBTQ+ rights voiced concerns that kids would be cut off from support resources only accessible to them via social media.
The bill has been revised several times and has picked up support along the way from a range of tech industry leaders including Apple and Elon Musk.
Some initial critics turned around to support a rewritten version of the bill that tweaked who could enforce its “duty of care” provision.
NetChoice — a trade association that represents Meta and dozens of other technology companies — has called KOSA unconstitutional, stating in handout materials that the bill is “compelling companies to restrict protected speech” and arguing that “parents will be replaced by a council of big government bureaucrats.” The group did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Others remain unconvinced, such as Fight for the Future, a digital rights group led by queer and transgender women. The group hired a billboard truck in June to criticize how KOSA could limit access to resources about reproductive health and gender-affirming care for kids.
Blumenthal said he expects the Senate to vote on the bill before the end of this year.
But pushing House leaders to hold a vote remains a challenge. Blumenthal said that he and Blackburn have meetings with House members planned in D.C. this week to discuss the bill. He said Blackburn is leading those meetings because her party holds the House.
He said he also hopes “allies in the White House” will press House leadership to hold a vote.
Speaking alongside Blumenthal on Friday, Laine Taylor, chief medical officer, said she supports the bill because she sees the negative effects of social media use in children she works with.
“There are lots of discussions around limitations being put on social media,” Taylor said. “So much of it is put on parents, and there’s only so much you can know.”
Josie Reich is a reporting intern for The Connecticut Mirror