S.C. attorney general pushes online protections for kids
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s been more than a quarter-century since Congress enacted a law designed to keep kids safe online.
Now dozens of states are calling on lawmakers on Capitol Hill to act urgently to get bipartisan child safety protections to the president as soon as possible.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson says the law is always behind technology – because of how quickly technology develops.
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But he believes it’s time the law catches up to decades of online advancements.
“With the advent of social media and how the internet has grown to be so invasive in every component and aspect of our lives, how children interact with the world, how they interact with each other has changed drastically in the last 10 years,” Wilson said.
Wilson is among a bipartisan coalition of more than 30 state attorneys general – who sent a letter to congressional leaders, calling on them to the Kids Online Safety Act.
The bill would require mandatory default safety settings on social media sites … allow s to disable endless-scrolling features … and empower parents to identify harmful behaviors online.
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Wilson says it’s important to hold these entities able – if they’re pushing products they know are harmful or addictive, especially to kids and teens.
So this bill would also create a duty of care for online platforms – meaning they would have a responsibility to act in a way that avoids causing harm.
“We do this with television. We do this with movies. We do this with alcohol and tobacco products. We do this with all kinds of products that could have harmful or inappropriate content for young people. Social media is more invasive than any of those things,” Wilson said.
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Some groups have raised concerns this could infringe on First Amendment rights.
But Wilson says that doesn’t preclude online platforms from acting responsibly – and not knowingly harming others.
The bill has already ed in the U.S. Senate but still needs to get through the House of Representatives.
If it doesn’t there by the end of the year, work on Capitol Hill will have to restart next year when a new Congress begins.
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