Senators aim to rewrite child safety rules on social media

Ranking member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks during a Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security hearing about online child safety in October.

Samuel Corum / Samuel Corum

Senators are introducing a bill aimed at keeping kids safe online amid mounting frustrations that popular apps including Instagram and YouTube don’t do enough to protect their youngest users.

The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is a grab bag of new rules and safeguards covering some of the biggest concerns that have emerged among lawmakers in the last year, as child safety has become a rare point of cross-party agreement.

“Big Tech has brazenly failed children and betrayed its trust, putting profits above safety,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The Kids Online Safety Act would finally give kids and their parents the tools and safeguards they need to protect against toxic content — and hold Big Tech accountable for deeply dangerous algorithms.”