Month: July 2024

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a pair of children’s online safety bills on Tuesday, designed to protect children from dangerous online content and hold tech companies more accountable for the harm that they cause.

The two bills in the package, which passed 91-3, are known as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0).  They represent the most significant congressional action in decades to regulate social media’s impact on children and teens.

The bill package had been pushed by parents of children who died by suicide after online bullying or have otherwise been harmed by online content. If passed by the House, the bills will force companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on online platforms frequently used by minors, requiring them to exercise “duty of care” and ensure that they generally default to the safest settings possible.

The bill would be the first major tech regulation package to move in a decade, and it could potentially pave the way for other bills that would strengthen online privacy laws or set parameters for the growing use of artificial intelligence. If the child safety bill becomes law, companies would be required to mitigate harm to children, including bullying and violence, the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and advertisements for illegal products such as narcotics, tobacco or alcohol.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said he is “committed to working to find consensus,” while Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who wrote the bill with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, said that the legislation is about allowing children, teens and parents “to take back control of their lives online,” adding that the message to big tech companies is that “we no longer trust you to make decisions for us.”

Several tech companies, including Microsoft, X and Snap, have supported the legislation. But NetChoice, a a tech industry group that represents X and Snap, along with Google, TikTok and Meta Platforms, called it unconstitutional.  A Meta spokesperson shared in a statement: “We support the development of age-appropriate standards for teens online, and appreciate KOSA’s attempt to create a consistent set of rules for the industry to follow. However, we think there’s a better way to help parents oversee their teens’ online experiences: federal legislation should require app stores to get parents’ approval whenever their teens under 16 download apps.”

Blumenthal and Blackburn have said they worked to find a balance between forcing companies to become more responsible for what children see online while also ensuring that Congress does not go too far in regulating what individuals post, due to First Amendment concerns. The bill also includes an update to child privacy laws that prohibit online companies from collecting personal information from users under 13, raising that age to 17.

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Police in the United Kingdom confirmed that a third young girl has died after a 17-year-old male went on a brutal stabbing spree at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the U.K.

Officers responded just before noon on Monday to reports of a stabbing at the Hart Space in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool. The local community center was holding a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop for children ages 6-11 when the incident occurred, according to Merseyside police. Two girls, 6-year-old Bebe King and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, were killed, and nine other children were injured, police said. The Merseyside Police confirmed Tuesday that a third girl, 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, died on Tuesday morning in the hospital.  Five other children and two adults remain in critical condition at local hospitals.

The 17-year-old male suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and murder, and a knife was seized after the attack, with BBC News reporting that the suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales and moved to the Southport area in 2013.  Authorities are working to determine a motive in the rampage in Southport in northwest England.

In a message posted on social media Tuesday, Swift said she was “completely in shock” and still processing “the horror” of the attack, while expressing her sympathy at the loss of life: “The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock. The loss of life and the innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”

As of Tuesday morning, a group of Taylor Swift fans had raised the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars to support the victims of the attack and their families. The fundraising page says the group is working with the regional Alder Hey Children’s Charity, “and raising funeral funds for the two young Swifties who have tragically passed.”

Police said the attack is not being treated as terror-related, and they are not looking for any other suspects. Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said (per the Associated Press):  “We believe the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,”

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the stabbing spree “horrendous and deeply shocking..my thoughts are with all those affected. I would like to thank the police and emergency services for their swift response. I am being kept updated as the situation develops.”

Prince William and his wife Catherine said that “as parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through.”

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