Consumer Advocates: Senate Should Reject Kids’ Bill From Cruz and Schatz

The Senate Commerce Committee should reject the Kids Off Social Media Act (see 2405100028) because it would harm children’s privacy, safety and First Amendment rights, more than 30 consumer advocate groups wrote Thursday. Signees included the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy & Technology, Chamber of Progress, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. Introduced by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and Katie Britt, R-Ala., the Kids Off Social Media Act (S-4213) incentivizes schools to “spy on children,” imposes unconstitutional restrictions on access to online services and undermines existing child protections, the consumer advocates said. For example, the legislation would hinder children from using chronological feeds, which help create “age-appropriate online experiences,” they said. The legislation was scheduled for a markup Thursday, which the Senate Commerce Committee postponed (see 2405160066).