Bipartisan bill would require parental consent for minors to use social media
Summary
This latest push from legislators to build new guardrails for kids online safety is occurring as similar actions are being taken at the state level. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., would give parents across the country profound new control over their kids access to social networking services like Metas Facebook and Instagram, Snaps Snapchat and TikTok. That is likely to raise privacy concerns given that it can be difficult to narrow a users age without some sort of government ID or facial scan. While age-verification tools are still somewhat limited, the bill also aims to expand them through a pilot program to explore free "secure digital identification" credentials for U.S. citizens. Soon after the bill was announced, tech-backed industry group NetChoice, which has sued California over its Age-Appropriate Design Code, slammed the legislation in a statement, saying it "would require massive, widespread data collection and retention, undermining Americans privacy and security.