Senate to vote next week on Kids Online Safety Act

SALT LAKE CITY — Next week the Senate will vote on the final passage of the Kids Online Safety Act. The bill is designed to protect children from social media companies.

 

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney co-sponsored the bill, which would expand many of the privacy rules already in place regarding children and social media.

Romney says the legislation would force social media companies to put the well-being of children above profit.

“[The bill] is basically saying, ‘we’re going to hold the social media companies countable for the content and the algorithms that are being put before kids,” Romney said.

The bill would give parents greater control over what their children see online.

“Kids can protect their information, they can disable certain product features that are addictive, they can opt out of algorithms,” Romney said. “So, kids get more power over what’s coming across their phone. And it also gives parents control so they can also guide what their kids are seeing.”

Currently, the Kids Online Safety Act has broad bi-partisan support.

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