Legislation to regulate social media to protect kids’ mental health advanced in a House subcommittee on Thursday, adding new momentum to a measure backed by a Senate supermajority. The panel approved the Kids Online Safety Act by Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) by voice vote, setting up consideration by the full Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill would: — require social media companies and online video games to prevent kids from seeing material promoting suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse and sexual exploitation, as well as advertising for drugs, tobacco, gambling and alcohol — mandate the websites offer parents tools to manage children’s use of the platforms — task the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology with studying ways to verify the age of website users — create a Kids Online Safety Council made up of parents, representatives from social media companies and federal agencies, state attorneys general, young people and people from underserved communities to monitor implementation of the law Across the Capitol: Sixty-nine senators have co-sponsored companion legislation by Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) that the Commerce Committee approved last year. Even so: Besides the tech firms that oppose the bill, a group founded by former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is warning it would “institutionalize federal censorship standards related to medical information” and could prompt bans on socially conservative or religious material. At the same time, advocates for LGBTQ+ kids and the American Civil Liberties Union are also against it, on the grounds the bill could restrict access to supportive communities online. That’s given some lawmakers, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), pause. He said “the bill must not unnecessarily encourage services to censor discussion of sensitive topics.”
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