Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling on the House of Representatives to pass legislation meant to protect children from the harms of the internet and social media. Schumer used the first day of school in a Syracuse suburb to encourage passage of two bills, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), and the Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Mary Rodee of Potsdam has been fighting for this legislation after the death of her son in 2021. 15-year-old Riley Basford took his own life after becoming a victim of an online sextortion scam on Facebook.
“Six hours is all it took for my world to be completely shattered, and I’ll never be able to repair it,” Rodee said.
The legislation has already won bipartisan passage in the Senate, but Schumer said the House won’t bring it up for a vote. The bills would, among other things, require platforms to give kids and teens more control over their data, allow parents more control over their kid's accounts, and ban advertising that targets kids and teens.
"Stop the needless delays,” Schumer said. “You don't want to vote for it? Go ahead. The voters will deal with that. But put it on the floor of the House and let there be a vote and I’m confident it would pass by the same overwhelming margin that we passed it in the Senate.”
Rodee said she won’t stop fighting for the bill until it is approved.
"I can't give up hope, but I'm also realistic too that it's hard to say it'll go for sure,” she said. “Big Tech is spending more money on lobbying efforts in Washington than they ever have before. It's hard to compete with. It feels very David and Goliath."
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