Sen. Marsha Blackburn is ramping up the pressure on the House to consider the Kids Online Safety Act after the chamber’s GOP leaders said the legislation is flawed and could lead to censorship.
In a video released Monday, the Tennessee Republican speaks with the mother of a 17-year-old boy who died after taking a pill laced with fentanyl that she suspects was purchased through social media.
In the “Why We Must Pass The Kids Online Safety Act” video, Vaughn-Thomas’ mother, Kathy, said he bought what he thought was Xanax, a prescription drug to treat anxiety and depression, which is also abused and addictive.
“When Vaughn-Thomas didn’t wake up to his alarm, that’s when we found him,” the mother says in the video. “He took what he thought was a Xanax. It was a counterfeit Xanax.”
Kathy said the drug deal “might have happened” on Snapchat.
“One mistake should not have been a death sentence for Vaughn-Thomas,” she said.
KOSA would require social media companies to enable the strongest privacy settings for children by default and to disable automated algorithms and features that show addictive products, among other provisions designed to protect children from potentially harmful online content.
The measure would impose a “duty of care” requiring online companies to design content offerings that protect minors from specific harms, including suicide, mental health disorders, substance abuse, violence, bullying and sexual exploitation. The Federal Trade Commission would be empowered to bring enforcement actions against companies that don’t meet KOSA standards.
It was co-authored by Ms. Blackburn and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat. It passed the Senate in July in a 91-3 vote, along with another children’s online safety bill, the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act.
“We have found so many kids that are meeting these drug dealers online, and the precursors come from China into Mexico, and then the drug cartels bring it into the country,” Ms. Blackburn said in the video. “Over 100,000 Americans a year die.”
She stressed that the bill has been “completely bipartisan.”
The bill has been stalled in the House, with no vote on it scheduled. Republicans argued that it might infringe on freedom of speech. Other opponents, including groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, have argued that the legislation “compounds nationwide attacks on young people’s right to learn and access information, on and offline.”
The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced it will mark up the two child online safety bills on Wednesday, but that does not guarantee a vote by the full House.
Dozens of parents and children will be on Capitol Hill this week to push for the House to take up the bill.
• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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