WASHINGTON– The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a series of measures aimed at protecting children online, the first major legislation concerning the technology sector in the country in years.
“This is an exceptional day,” said senators from both parties. “The Senate has kept its promise to all the parents who have lost a child to the dangers of social media,” they stressed.
The bill must now be approved by the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are on parliamentary recess until September.
The bill, supported in the Senate by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, requires technology platforms to establish provisions to protect minors from problematic and dangerous content, in particular sexual exploitation, online harassment and the promotion of suicide and eating disorders.
It would also put limits on users’ ability to communicate with children through messaging and impose tighter parental controls on social media.
The giants Microsoft, X (formerly Twitter) and Snap have expressed their support for the legislation, while Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) and TikTok have not expressed explicit support.
The initiative would also strengthen privacy rules for minors and ban online advertising aimed at children.
Source: With information from AFP.
