Cruz: Kids' Bill Has Enough Bipartisan Support for Passage

Introduced with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the legislation would eliminate algorithmic-targeted content for children younger than 17 and block children 13 and under from using platforms (see 2405010075). The Kids Off Social Media Act would have passed “easily” had the Senate Commerce Committee marked up the bill last week, he said: “I expect it to receive widespread bipartisan support.”

Cruz and Schatz will try attaching it to the FAA reauthorization bill the Senate is considering Tuesday, Schatz’s office told us Monday. If that attempt fails, Cruz is hopeful he and Schatz can add it to another Senate Commerce Committee markup. Another measure, Schatz’s bipartisan Protecting Kids on Social Media Act (S-1291), was listed on the committee’s May 1 markup before it was postponed (see 2405010051). The office of Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., didn't comment.

Child safety advocates support the Kids Off Social Media Act, while tech industry groups are opposed. Bill sponsors have “good intentions,” and it’s “completely reasonable” to set national standards for screen time at schools, NetChoice Vice President Carl Szabo said Monday. “But the bill’s restrictions on access to digital services replace parents with big government, enable surveillance and censorship by bureaucrats, jeopardize all Americans’ online privacy, and disregard the First Amendment,” he said.

Szabo recommended Congress approve the Invest in Child Safety Act, which would authorize $5 billion in mandatory funding for investigations and prosecutions of child sexual abuse material cases (see 2402270069). It would grant law enforcement “essential resources to investigate predators, prosecute them, and keep them off the streets -- and the internet,” Szabo said.

The Kids Off Social Media Act is a “commonsense” bill that would empower parents who don’t want their children on social media due to abuse and manipulative algorithms, Parents Television and Media Council Vice President Melissa Henson said when it was introduced. In addition to the Kids Off Social Media Act, Henson urged that Congress approve the Kids Online Safety Act, the Earn It Act and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 (see 2404150059).

“Social media is a sewer,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told us last week. A co-sponsor of the Cruz-Schatz bill, Fetterman said it’s “undeniable” that social media has a “significant impact” on the mental health and well-being of young users. He doesn’t want to make social media the “forbidden fruit,” but tech companies are profiting from the harm they’re inflicting: “I don’t know why anyone would object to making it as safe as possible.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he’s not sure eliminating algorithms for young users “hits the target,” but he’s willing to study the legislation. “I support some age restrictions on the use of some of these [social media] products because I don’t think people really understand" how the platforms function, he said.

Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told us he’s potentially supportive of the Cruz-Schatz concept but he needs to know more about the bill. “It sounds like it’s trying to get at the root problem of companies deliberately targeting children,” he said. Said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.: “I’ve been involved in enough conversations on the negative impact of platforms on children, and we need to do some legislating in that area." It’s an “intriguing” concept from Cruz and Schatz, said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.: “The kids don’t seem to be benefiting from the algorithms that have been created.”