‘Large Step In The Right Direction’: Chuck Schumer Calls On House To Vote On Kids Online Safety Act

4 months ago

During a press briefing on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke in support of the Kids Online Safety Act.

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Transcript

00:00Okay, good afternoon everybody, and I want to thank my colleagues, Senators Blumenthal,

00:16Blackburn, Markey, and we expect Senator Cassidy momentarily, not just for being here today,

00:21but for the amazing, tenacious, never give up work they did to get us here on this bill.

00:28Most importantly, though, to all the parents who advocated tirelessly for these bills,

00:36who shared their stories of their kids, who turned their grief into grace, thank you.

00:45They lit a candle.

00:47There's no worse pain and suffering for a parent than losing a child.

00:51That kind of pain is incomprehensible.

00:55No one would fault any grieving parent if they retreated, mourned their children, and

01:00then processed their pain in private.

01:03But these folks did the opposite.

01:06They did what the scriptures say is very noble.

01:09Instead of cursing the darkness, they lit a candle, lighting a candle, working doggedly

01:15to ensure that this might not happen to other children, the horrible things that happened

01:22to theirs.

01:25They endure pain every minute of the day, but they made their children's memories a

01:30blessing in the form of legislation to protect our children from the risks of social media

01:36and other online platforms.

01:39They have shown unimaginable heroic strength.

01:43And today, that strength, that persistence of the parents who never gave up, has paid

01:49off.

01:50For COSA, Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn fought to give kids and parents the tools,

01:55safeguards, and transparency they need to protect our children's health and online

02:01well-being.

02:02It ensures that social media companies have a duty to ensure their products do not cause

02:08harm to kids and teens.

02:10Now social media has brought a lot of benefits connecting people, but with those benefits

02:15come real risks, and COSA provides important guardrails to guard against those risks.

02:22For COPPA, Senators Markey and Cassidy – welcome – work to protect personal information for

02:28children and teenagers and ban targeted advertising for children and teens.

02:34Now, these bills don't solve all of the problems online, but this is certainly a large

02:40step in the right direction to protecting children and teens online.

02:46There's more work to be done in areas like AI and like privacy, where we have to work

02:52hard to mitigate risks that come from such a transformational technology.

02:57But today, we passed the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act and the COPPA Act, and each

03:06of the four did great work.

03:09Now that the Senate has done its job, the House should do the same and move on COSA

03:16and COPPA right away when they return.

03:19The bipartisan momentum behind these bills is real, and we should seize this opportunity

03:25to make them into law.

03:27To the parents and families who fought for change, thank you.

03:31And I say that not only as a leader and a Senator, but as a dad and a grandpa who always

03:38worries about what will happen with my little grandchildren when they get a little older.

03:45I promised them that we'd get this done.

03:49I promised them I'd bring it to the floor, and today I've kept my promise.

03:54But most importantly, we are one step closer to making our teens and our children across

04:02the U.S. safer online.

‘Large Step In The Right Direction’: Chuck Schumer Calls On House To Vote On Kids Online Safety Act

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