Sen. John Cornyn pushes for laws to protect kids online
RICHARDSON, Texas - Texas Sen. John Cornyn wants more federal protections for kids on social media – what many parents would consider common sense rules. But getting Congress to agree is another matter.
Recently, there has been a lot of focus from the Texas Legislature and Congress on protecting teens online.
While two bills backed by Sen. Cornyn overwhelmingly passed the Senate, it will be a tougher fight in the House.
One bill is known as the Kids Online Safety Act or KOSA. The other is the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA.
Cornyn had a roundtable at a Richardson ISD school on Thursday with leaders, doctors, and some student cyberbullying victims in attendance.
Senate passes Kids Online Safety Act, aims to protect children from social media harms
The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate in a bipartisan 91-3 vote on Tuesday.
He said KOSA would create a "duty of care," a legal term that would require companies to take steps to prevent harm.
Social media companies would also have to prevent and mitigate harm to children, including bullying, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
"Both are focused on making sure parents are included in this situation and they have tools they can use, but also the social media companies have their own responsibilities as well. It's going to take all of us working together," Cornyn said.
There has been some pushback from groups supporting free speech.
It’s also unclear if the House will bring the two bills up for a vote before a new Congress is elected.
When the bills passed the Senate this summer, House Speaker Mike Johnson was noncommittal about whether he would bring them up for a vote.
If the bills pass the House, President Joe Biden indicated he would sign them.
Biden said the country needs actions by Congress to protect children online and hold big tech companies accountable.