During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) spoke about a bill aimed at improving child safety online.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following members be permitted to speak
00:14prior to the scheduled vote.
00:17Senator Markey for up to 5 minutes.
00:19Senator Cassidy for up to 5 minutes.
00:22Senator Globachoff for up to 5 minutes.
00:25Senator Schatz for up to 10 minutes.
00:27Senator Cruz for up to 5 minutes.
00:29Senator Blumenthal for up to 5 minutes.
00:32Senator Blackburn for up to 10 minutes.
00:34And Senator Schumer for up to 5 minutes.
00:39Is there objection?
00:40Without objection, so ordered.
00:44Mr. President, Mr. President, I rise today in defense of the mental health of children
00:53and teenagers in the United States of America.
00:57Our young people today are facing a devastating mental health crisis.
01:01I have said these statistics on the floor before, but they bear repeating because they
01:07come from the Centers for Disease Control in our country.
01:15One in three high school girls in the United States seriously considered suicide in 2021.
01:23And at least one in ten high school girls attempted suicide that year.
01:28Among LGBTQ youth, the number is more like one in five attempted suicide.
01:36That is staggering.
01:37And it is unacceptable that big tech has unknowingly contributed to these disturbing numbers.
01:46And let's just move on.
01:48Take it from the U.S. Surgeon General, who just a few weeks ago referred to the young
01:53mental health crisis as a, quote, emergency, and identified social media as a, quote, important
02:00contributor to that crisis.
02:03Over the next week, the United States Senate has a chance, finally, to do something about
02:09it.
02:10To stand up to big tech's lobbying machine and put an end to the invasive targeting and
02:15tracking of young people online.
02:19Today, we have a procedural vote to move ahead on the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act,
02:26which includes my legislation, partnering with Senator Cassidy, the Children and Teens
02:33Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA 2.0.
02:37Our legislation cuts to the heart of this emergency by addressing big tech's financial
02:43incentives to keep kids and teens addicted to social media and allows kids, parents and
02:49teens to say no to the endless tracking and targeting of young people online in our country.
02:58Because as long as big tech can profit off of young people's addiction, they will find
03:03ways to do so.
03:05And our job is to change those incentives, to change big tech's business model so that
03:10addicting kids and teens does not lead to fatter wallets and larger bonuses for big
03:16tech executives.
03:17The core problem facing children and teens is big tech's relentless and unyielding drive
03:24to accumulate more and more data on its users.
03:29This data may seem vague and uncertain, but it is anything but vague and uncertain.
03:36What is a child's name?
03:38A child's email address?
03:40A child's location?
03:41Their height?
03:42Their weight?
03:43Their health conditions?
03:44Their fingerprints?
03:45And facial skin?
03:46Their likes?
03:47Their dislikes?
03:48Even their sexual orientation and gender identity?
03:51Why targeted advertising by big tech companies?
03:57With more data, the platforms can develop more effective targeted ads, ads that are
04:03chosen to match the user's specific age, location, and interest.
04:09Ads that are displayed at a certain time of day when the algorithm knows a user is most
04:14likely to click them.
04:16Soon, with the advent of artificial intelligence, perhaps ads that are even generated just for
04:24the individual user.
04:26That's the promise of AI.
04:29All of this hyper-personalized advertising requires huge amounts of data on an individual
04:36user.
04:37Data is the fuel for big tech's profit machine.
04:40The raw material that sustains big tech's business model.
04:44The formula is simple.
04:46More time on social media means more data to fuel the targeted advertising machine,
04:52which means more profits for big tech.
04:56More addiction equals more data equals more money for big tech.
05:01Very simple.
05:02And they target teenagers and children in our country in the same way that the tobacco
05:07industry targeted teenagers and children.
05:11And it's a lot of money.
05:12In 2022, the major big tech platforms earned nearly $11 billion from U.S. users under the
05:19age of 18.
05:2011 billion.
05:22That's 11 billion reasons to build ever more sophisticated data profiles on younger users,
05:2811 billion reasons to develop new addictive features, 11 billion reasons to keep our young
05:33people clicking, swiping, and liking all day long.
05:37With the growth of artificial intelligence, big tech's appetite for data has never been
05:43greater.
05:44And that means the privacy of our young people has never been more at risk.
05:49The question, then, is how to change big tech's incentives to develop platforms that
05:55benefit children and teens rather than addict them, and if big tech no longer has an incentive
06:01to maximize the data collected on a young person, it will lose the incentive to develop
06:07ever-changing methods to addict that child or teen in the first place.
06:11Senator, your time has expired.
06:13May I ask for one additional minute?
06:16Without objection.
06:18Here's what the bill does.
06:20One, it will ban targeted advertising to children and teens.
06:26Two, it will create an eraser button to delete children and teens' data.
06:32And three, stop the unnecessary data collection practices of online platforms.
06:39With these updates, the Senate has an opportunity to pass the most comprehensive privacy law
06:44for young people in over 25 years and send a message to big tech that these days of invading
06:51and exploiting young people must come to an end.
06:55We have to stop business as usual.
06:57That's what we're going to vote on today, to begin this process procedurally, to get
07:02it out on the floor of the Senate substantively for an historic vote next week.
07:06I thank you, Mr. President.
07:10Senator from Louisiana.
07:11Mr. President, thank you very much.
07:13Mr. President, think about how much has happened over the last several weeks.
07:17We've had one presidential candidate survive an assassination attempt.
07:21Our current president is dropping out of the race.
07:23We've had protesters burning an American flag and raising a Palestinian flag as the United
07:29States' closest ally gave a speech to Congress yesterday.
07:34That's how much has happened in several weeks.
07:36Guess what hasn't happened in 25 years?
07:40An update of how we protect children on their online experience.
07:46That has not changed in 25 years, even when so much happens in just a few weeks.
07:52And so rules from 25 years ago cannot effectively govern social media sites that did not exist
07:5825 years ago, were not conceived of 25 years ago.
08:03We've waited too long to update these rules, but today we have a chance to fix.
08:08The current armor protecting children's Internet activity passed into law in 1988.
08:13Babies born that year are well into their professional careers.
08:18People were concerned about Y2K, and Nick Saban had not yet become LSU's football coach.
08:24Of course, the 1998 rules do not prohibit Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok from collecting
08:30personal information on young teenagers without consent, because that was not envisioned 25
08:36years ago.
08:37Today, the Internet is an integral part of a child's life.
08:41The information a child has access to has drastically expanded, exposing children to
08:47risk that they may not have the maturity to navigate independently.
08:51Now, the Internet has got so many good things and can be a great learning tool for our children.
08:57But we can't ignore the dangers.
09:00The adult content, the pornography, the cyberbullying, the violence, the predatory behavior, the
09:06overall impact upon our children's mental health.
09:09Our children should not be left to face these challenges alone.
09:14Under current law, the law passed in 1998, good for the time, but not for now, only children
09:20less than age 13 were covered, leaving a whole population of teenagers unprotected.
09:26Now, with 95 percent of teenagers between 13 and 17 using social media, their protection
09:34should be expanded.
09:37And by expanding these protections, by banning targeted advertising, by limiting data collection
09:42and strengthening parental control, COPPA 2.0 enables safer online experiences and guards
09:49against exposure to manipulation and exploitation.
09:53This, in lockstep with the Kids Online Safety Act, or COSA, will give the parents the peace
09:58of mind to know their child is safer than they were before.
10:03These bills empower parents, they empower children.
10:07They're bipartisan no-brainers, which is why they have overwhelming bipartisan support
10:11in both chambers of Congress.
10:13Look, I'm a doctor, a father, a grandfather, but I'm not the only grandfather and father
10:22voting on these pieces of legislation.
10:25Anyone with children knows that they would do anything to protect those children.
10:31Congress has a chance to reflect that paternal and maternal instinct and take a serious step
10:37to protect our children.
10:38These bills will make a difference.
10:40I urge my colleagues to support.
10:42With that, I yield.
10:47Senator from Minnesota.
10:48Mr. President, I rise today because the time to protect our kids from these online platforms
10:54is now.
10:56After decades of delay, thanks to our colleagues, Senator Blumenthal, Blackburn-Markey and Cassidy,
11:03as well as Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz, Judiciary Committee Chair Durbin and
11:08Leader Schumer, as well as Ranking Member Graham, I serve on both committees.
11:13I've been strong proponents of these bills as well as others.
11:17And for too long, social media companies have turned a blind eye when children join their
11:23platforms and build algorithms that push harmful content out to kids.
11:30What have we seen?
11:31Recent study from Mayo Clinic showed us the study found kids have difficulty sleeping,
11:37unrealistic expectations about their bodies or their lives, exposure to online predators
11:43subject to cyberbullying.
11:46The result of this, tragic results for teens.
11:50I'm thinking of Devin Noring from Hastings, Minnesota.
11:54I've gotten to know his mom, Bridget, struggling with migraines, brought from what he thought
11:59about Percocet over online, on Snapchat.
12:05What it was?
12:06It wasn't really Percocet.
12:07It was laced with fentanyl right off of Snapchat.
12:10He got that pill.
12:11He died.
12:12Alexander Neville, who like Devin, purchased a pill online that turned out to be counterfeit
12:19made with fentanyl.
12:20It killed him.
12:21He was only 14.
12:23Carson Bride ended his life four years ago after he was viciously cyberbullied by his
12:29high school classmates who were using Snapchat's anonymous apps.
12:35Not so anonymous for Carson Bride.
12:38I've met with their moms.
12:40They've come to the Capitol.
12:41They're here today.
12:42It's time to get this done with no delay.
12:45Why do they even need to be here?
12:47Because there weren't safeguards and rules already in place.
12:52Why didn't these companies act when they learned of the danger?
12:55Let's be clear.
12:56They knew of the danger.
12:59This is about profits over safety.
13:02When that Boeing plane, when that door fell out, what happened?
13:06Grounded the fleet.
13:07We made sure it was safe.
13:09Why haven't we been doing this here?
13:11It's time to act.
13:13It has been 26 years since Congress passed any meaningful kids' online privacy legislation.
13:20I am so honored that the chair of the Judiciary Committee is here, Senator Durbin, who helped
13:25me and Senator Cornyn to get the SHIELD Act through this chamber, which would prohibit
13:31the online distribution of explicit and intimate images, also known as revenge porn.
13:39We just passed Senator Durbin's Defiance Act with Senator Hawley and Senator Graham
13:45and myself to allow victims of explicit deepfakes to seek the justice that they deserve.
13:52The Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act before us will expand existing laws to protect children
13:58online.
13:59It also goes further to ensure a safe online environment for children by creating a legal
14:05duty for social media companies to take all necessary steps to protect kids from harmful
14:11features and algorithms on their platforms.
14:17I will never forget the parent who once told me that she was relying on her older kids
14:22because she couldn't figure out how to stop her younger kids from putting up more and
14:26more apps, and she couldn't get around it.
14:29She said it was like water overflowing a sink, and she was out there by herself with a mop
14:36trying to mop it up.
14:37I thought that kind of set it all for how parents feel.
14:40We need to stand by their side.
14:43In addition to the bills that are so important before us today, past the Cooper Davis and
14:47Devin Noring Act, which requires social media companies to report illegal drug sales on
14:53their platforms, to law enforcement, that bill is heading this way to the floor.
14:59We need to finally take this on, not put our heads in the sand, not expect those parents
15:05to be out there with a mop while these big companies are profiting off of their kids.
15:11This is a moment, but this is only a beginning.
15:14There is so much more work to do.
15:17Thank you, Mr. President.
15:18I yield the floor.
15:29Mr. President.
15:36Senator from Texas.
15:37Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following intern and law clerk in my office
15:41be granted floor privileges until August 2nd, 2024.
15:45Eugenie Davis, Michael Latire.
15:48Without objection.
15:55Mr. President.
15:57Mr. President, while there is no doubt our country has greatly benefited from the internet,
16:03for some families, it has come at a painful and even tragic cost.
16:08Every parent I know is concerned about the online threats directed at our kids.
16:14Whether it's predators targeting children, or online videos promoting self-harm, risky
16:20life choices, or undermining their self-esteem.
16:25We all know someone who has had to grapple with the failure of big tech to take responsibility
16:32for the harms caused by its products.
16:36Today, the Senate is beginning to put big tech on notice.
16:41The Kids Online Safety Act, or COSA, and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection
16:47Act, or COPPA 2.0, will both help keep children safer online and protect their privacy.
16:56I want to thank Senators Blackburn, Blumenthal, Markey, and Cantwell for collaborating with
17:02me and my team over the past year to significantly improve both measures.
17:08In COSA, we added an express preemption provision that will help limit the litigation magnet
17:15from a patchwork of state laws.
17:18We eliminated all FTC rulemaking authority, putting in place guardrails against government
17:24overreach.
17:26Importantly, we also struck an important balanced approach on the obligation tech companies
17:33have with respect to determining whether a user online is a minor in both COSA and COPPA
17:402.0.
17:43Instead of the current law's age verification approach, an actual knowledge standard that
17:49has permitted tech companies to rely on children absurdly claiming to have been born in 1882,
17:59tech companies will now have to bear more responsibility to enforce underage online
18:05accounts.
18:07This update is not a constructive knowledge standard, but it reflects rather a balance
18:15that puts greater responsibility on tech companies without imposing unfeasible requirements.
18:23Nearly 30 years after the original COPPA's passage, the Internet has changed, and I believe
18:28COPPA 2.0 meets the moment to update that current online privacy issues effectively.
18:36Congress should continue to build off the specific bipartisan provisions in COPPA 2.0
18:44for children's privacy and enact a comprehensive data privacy bill.
18:50In the Commerce Committee, I intend to continue that work.
18:55COSA and COPPA 2.0 are important first steps in protecting children online, but we're not
19:02finished.
19:03More work remains to be done.
19:06Senator Klobuchar and I have together introduced the Take It Down Act, which targets bad actors
19:13who use AI to create and publish on social media sites fake, explicit imagery of real
19:22people, often teenage girls.
19:26The Take It Down Act gives them the justice they deserve by criminalizing the spread of
19:31so-called revenge porn and requiring big tech to remove the images immediately upon
19:38notice to the victim.
19:40And it also applies to fake images made using AI, deep fake images that we are seeing more
19:48and more becoming a plague targeting young people and in particular young women.
19:55Senator Schatz and I have also introduced the Kids Off Social Media Act, COSMA, which
20:00builds upon COSA by addressing specific harms to children from social media, especially
20:06in schools.
20:08Big tech claims users under 13 aren't permitted, so COSA makes that explicit.
20:14It prohibits children under 13 from having social media accounts.
20:19It stops companies from targeting minors, and it requires schools to block social media
20:27in school.
20:29I hope that this body will meet parents where they are and say enough is enough.
20:35Let's also soon pass COSMA because there's no good reason for an eight-year-old to be
20:40on Instagram or a teenager to be doom-scrolling Twitter in a classroom at taxpayer's expense.
20:49Parents across the country agree.
20:51It's time Congress answered the call and held big tech accountable.
20:56I'm proud to work alongside Republicans and Democrats.
21:01I'm proud of the work the Commerce Committee has done to bring COSA and COPPA 2.0 forward,
21:07and I look forward to continuing this critically important work of protecting our kids online.
21:14Thank you, and I yield the floor.