The Senate is set to consider legislation this week to protect children from harmful online content, marking a potential landmark in tech industry regulation.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will announce Tuesday that he plans to bring the bipartisan bill to the Senate floor, with the goal of passing it before the August recess. Despite broad support and advocacy from families affected by online bullying, the bill had been stalled for months.
Schumer emphasizes the bill’s potential to “change and save lives,” reflecting parents’ concerns that social media and tech companies must do more to prevent suicides and other traumas among children and teenagers who spend significant time online.
Alongside a separate bill to update child online privacy laws, this online safety bill represents the first major tech regulation effort in years. While bipartisan support exists for increased scrutiny of major tech companies, consensus on the approach has been elusive. Earlier this year, Congress passed a law targeting TikTok, but it focused solely on that company.
The bill’s fate in the House remains uncertain. However, a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate could pressure House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to address it before the November election or the session’s end in January.
The child safety bill emerged from years of collaboration between Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, along with advocacy groups. The legislation aims to hold companies accountable for content accessible to children while avoiding overregulation of individual posts.
The bill introduces a “duty of care” requiring companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on platforms used by minors. Companies must mitigate risks such as bullying, violence, suicide promotion, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and illegal product advertisements.
To meet these requirements, social media platforms must offer minors options to protect their information, disable addictive features, and opt out of personalized algorithms. They must also restrict communication with minors and limit features that prolong platform use, like autoplay and rewards.
Platforms would default to the safest settings for accounts believed to belong to minors. Blumenthal and Blackburn describe this approach as making platforms “safe by design.”
The senators have collaborated with parents of children who have died by suicide or been harmed by social media. Schumer, who has met with affected families, expressed pride in advancing the legislation.
“I’ve met with families from across the country who have gone through the worst thing a parent could endure — losing a child,” Schumer said. “Rather than retreating into the darkness of their loss, these families lit a candle for others with their advocacy.”
Some tech companies, including Microsoft, X, and Snap, support the bill. Critics worry it could infringe on the First Amendment and restrict access to information on LGBTQ issues or reproductive rights. However, revisions have addressed many concerns, gaining support from major LGBTQ groups.
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Additionally, the Senate will consider a bipartisan online privacy bill by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La. This bill would update laws banning online companies from collecting personal information from users under 13 by raising the age to 17. It also prohibits targeted advertising to users under 17 and allows teens or guardians to delete a minor’s personal information.