It's make or break for social media bill

Presented by Johnson&Johnson: The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Sep 11, 2024 View in browser   By Ruth Reader, Daniel Payne and Erin Schumaker Presented by  TECH MAZE Bilirakis is confident the House will pass his bill to regulate social media. | AP The lead House sponsor of legislation that would for the first time regulate social media to protect kids' mental health is confident his bill will get a vote. “The speaker’s office is engaged, the majority leader’s office is engaged. We are going to try to get this worked out very, very soon,” Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) told POLITICO. Why it matters: The Senate passed its version of the Kids Online Safety Act 91-3 in July. The bill says companies must: — Limit the amount of data they collect on children under 17. — Not target minors with advertising. — Give children the highest privacy settings by default. — Offer the ability to opt out of various design features like content recommendations and engagement nudges. — Design platforms with kids’ safety in mind. — Have an independent third party audit their platforms for potential harm to children. — Hand over data for research on how social media affects children. But Bilirakis has had a tougher time in the House. Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) canceled a planned markup in June because of objections from at least some GOP party leaders. The House bill now has 47 co-sponsors, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. Among them are lawmakers who agree on little, such as Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) The Republican leaders who objected have never spelled out their concerns publicly, but the bill has faced opposition from tech firms, which say it would violate the First Amendment, and former Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Rick Santorum’s group Patriot Voices, which says it could lead to censorship of conservative and religious views online. The latest: Parents who have lost children to online harms are lobbying representatives this week to pass the bill. “Every year they choose not to act, they will be complicit,” said Christine McComas, a Maryland mother who lost her daughter to cyberbullying twelve years ago. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of 39 states attorneys general on Tuesday called for labels on social media sites warning they pose a risk to kids’ mental health.   A message from Johnson&Johnson: J&J is teaming up with over 100+ community-based organizations to close the gaps between community and care in our backyards and across the country. Learn More.   WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Crownsville, Md. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Hospitals are giving a drug test to people giving birth that often returns false positives, the Marshall Project reports. In one case, child protective services investigated a mother who’d eaten a Costco salad with poppy seed dressing. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.    A message from Johnson&Johnson:   THE LAB A therapy company thinks supportive online communities could help kids. | AP A therapy company has a counterintuitive strategy to help kids with their mental health: a social media platform. Talkspace, a telehealth giant that offers therapy to more than 1 million users across the country, is launching Teenspace Community, an anonymous, moderated online community. Users can post their responses to daily reflection prompts, with the option of sharing their responses with their clinician. They’ll also be able to give and receive support from other users based on the posted responses. The platform aims to act on research that suggests peer-to-peer support reduces depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. Even so: It looks a lot like the social media platforms that have been criticized for their roles in worsening youth mental health. Talkspace says its platform is different. Artificial intelligence and clinically trained experts will work together to ensure it’s continuously monitored, safe and supportive.   A message from Johnson&Johnson: What does health look like to you? At J&J, we believe a healthy community is one served by health workers who are supported and thriving. We are working with partners across the country to achieve health equity and eradicate inequities & health disparities. Learn More.   THE NEXT CURES The NIH is investing in treating trichomoniasis. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Tulane University researchers working on treatments for among the most common curable sexually transmitted infections are getting a $9.2 million boost from the National Institutes of Health. Trichomoniasis, caused by trichomonas vaginalis, an inflammation-causing parasite that lives in people’s genital tracts, is prevalent, with more than 3 million estimated infections in the U.S., many of them in the Deep South, the researchers say. Only 30 percent of people with trichomoniasis infections develop symptoms, meaning many people don’t know they’re infected and don’t seek treatment, so infections often last for months or years. “The problem is trichomoniasis is the most common treatable STI, but there are often no symptoms, and the CDC has not recommended screening among asymptomatic people, so the public doesn’t know about it,” Patty Kissinger, professor of epidemiology at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said in a statement. The five-year, NIH-backed study, which includes 1,200 participants in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida, will compare secnidazole, a newer treatment, to metronidazole, an older antibiotic. While metronidazole was long the go-to drug for trichomoniasis, it has a high breakthrough infection rate of roughly 10 percent. Why it matters: Untreated infections are linked to increased risk for pelvic inflammatory disease in women and prostatitis, or prostate inflammation, in men, plus an increased risk for HIV infections. Trichomoniasis infections passed from mother to baby are associated with preterm birth and poor birth outcomes. Additionally, a racial disparity appears in infection rates — African-American women are more likely than other demographic groups to develop trichomoniasis infections. Big picture: Metronidazole’s high breakthrough rate could be due to the need for a multiple-dose regimen. Missing doses or engaging in sexual activity before completing treatment can increase the risk of reinfection. By comparison, secnidazole requires only one dose. “Trichomoniasis affects millions but remains a highly neglected STI,” Kissinger said. “We’re hoping this study leads to better treatment options and increased awareness that we hope will encourage more screening.”   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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