The AAP is applauding Senate passage of safeguards to protect children online and is calling for swift passage in the House of Representatives.
The Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act approved by the Senate Tuesday in a 91-3 vote combines two longtime AAP priorities: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA 2.0).
AAP President Benjamin D. Hoffman, M.D., FAAP, said the legislation includes “simple, commonsense reforms.”
“Social media and the internet were not designed with kids in mind,” Dr. Hoffman said. “For years, pediatricians across the country have spoken out about the urgent need to create healthier digital environments for children and adolescents.”
About 95% of teens and 40% of children ages 8-12 years use social media. While it can provide a learning experience and promote community, social media also can expose youths to bullying, discrimination, sexual exploitation and inaccurate information. Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A., released an advisory saying social media carries “profound risk of harm” to youths and calling on policymakers, researchers, tech companies, parents and adolescents to make social media safer.
KOSA establishes a duty of care requiring platforms to avoid certain harms to minors, provides young people new tools and safeguards to control their digital experience, and gives the public transparency into the harms these platforms pose and what companies are doing to address them.
COPPA 2.0 strengthens data privacy safeguards for children passed in the original COPPA law in 1998, extends protections to teens and imposes meaningful limits on how companies can use the data they collect from young people such as a prohibition on data-driven targeted ads.
Creating a safer online environment has been a priority for the AAP, which has established the AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. The center recently worked with a federal task force to create tools and strategies around internet use for families that were featured in the report Online Health and Safety for Children and Youth: Best Practices for Families and Guidance for Industry.
In addition, the AAP held a summit that brought together teens and experts to talk about healthy media use, released ads featuring pediatricians supporting legislation and testified before Congress. In April, pediatricians attending the AAP Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for children’s online safety.
“Today’s decisive vote demonstrates there is strong bipartisan resolve for taking action to protect children and teens,” Dr. Hoffman said. “… Pediatricians will continue to push for this bill’s passage into law, and the AAP urges the House of Representatives to act quickly to achieve that goal without delay.”
Resources
- AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
- AAP's 5 C’s of Media Use
- AAP policy Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
- AAP policy Media and Young Minds
- HealthyChildren.org media resources for families
- U.S. surgeon general’s advisory Social Media and Youth Mental Health
