Today, the Senate took a crucial bipartisan step forward to make our kids safer online. There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis. Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act. While my Administration has taken important steps to address the harms of social media and online platforms, we need action by Congress to protect our kids online and hold Big Tech accountable for the national experiment they are running on our children for profit. This bill answers the call from the Unity Agenda of my first State of the Union Address, when I said it was time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, and demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children.
The last time Congress took meaningful action to protect children and teenagers online was in 1998 - before the ubiquity of social media and smartphones. Our kids have been waiting too long for the safety and privacy protections they deserve and which this bill would provide. This is more important than ever with the growing use of AI. I want to thank Senators Blumenthal, Blackburn, Markey, and Cassidy, along with Leader Schumer, for their leadership on this legislation, and all of the bipartisan lawmakers who voted for this bill. I encourage the House to send this bill to my desk for signature without delay.
