CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
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On . Senate bill S.1409 – the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that the Becca Schmill Foundation has been advocating for, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously! We are thrilled because KOSA will make the online environment safer for teens and pre-teens. Big Tech platforms currently use manipulative design features that keep kids anxiously checking their devices, heighten the risk of cyberbullying, and increase exposure to unwanted dangerous content, including illicit drugs.
CALL TO ACTION: Senators value the input of their constituents. Please contact yours to let them know you care about this issue and want them to cosponsor KOSA.
If you live in Massachusetts, contact Senator Warren and Senator Markey:
- Senator Warren – Call (202) 224-4543 or email a version of the letter below here: https://www.warren.senate.gov/contact/shareyouropinion
- Senator Markey – Call (202) 224-2742 or email a version of the letter below here: https://www.markey.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion
If you live in the U.S. outside of MA, find your Senators contact information here or call (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to one of your senators.
Thank you so much for your help with this incredibly important and urgent issue.
Deb and Stu Schmill
Founders and Becca’s Parents
Email Template:
Dear Senator [SENATOR’S LAST NAME]
My name is [NAME] and I am a resident of [CITY, STATE]. I am calling to urge Senator [LAST NAME OF SENATOR] to cosponsor the Kids Online Safety Act (S.1409) as a first step to creating a safer internet for young people.
The business model of Big Tech is fundamentally opposed to children’s well-being. KOSA would provide important protections for young people as well as tools for families to hold Big Tech companies accountable for harming children.
[Consider mentioning features of the bill that are important to you and describing personal challenges your family has experienced.
Please, cosponsor Senate Bill 1409 and to give our children and families the internet they deserve. Thank you.
| KOSA | Elements (Source: Fairplay) |
| Duty of care | One of the most important pieces of the bill is that it requires platforms to prevent and mitigate specific harms related to mental health disorders; addiction-like behaviors; physical violence and bullying; sexual exploitation and abuse; illegal and addictive substances; and financial harms. This would provide children and teens with default protections without having families navigate a maze of complicated safety and privacy settings. It’s time these sites stopped putting profits before people, especially with children and teens. |
| Harmful Design | KOSA will limit the use of harmful design practices, including features designed to be addictive or send kids down dangerous rabbit holes. I can tell you from first-hand experience how detrimental online platforms can be to the mental health of young people. [This would be an opportunity to talk about specific harms that concern you. The bill addresses, among other things, the promotion of suicide and self-harm, eating disorders, addictive substances, and sexual exploitation.] |
| Promote transparency | Tech companies use complicated algorithms to recommend content to kids and teens and to predict their behavior online. These algorithms are designed to maximize young people’s time online and can serve increasingly dangerous content to children and teens. It is clear that self-regulation is not enough to hold tech companies accountable for the consequences of these content recommendation systems. Auditing and public reporting requirements, as well as making data accessible to researchers, are key to ensuring these companies are accountable for what they build. These transparency requirements fall on the largest platforms, which is where the most harm to kids and teens occurs. |
| Parental/User controls | Families should have the right to mold the experience that young people have on online platforms. KOSA provides parents and guardians more control over children and teens’ privacy and account settings and allows families to restrict purchases and financial transactions. KOSA also requires platforms to give kids and teens the option to either opt out of personalized recommendations or to limit types or categories of recommendations. |
| Parental controls | As a parent trying to navigate the online experience of my child, having the ability to protect my child’s privacy, restrict purchases, and track their time on a platform is crucial. Tech companies have incentives to keep kids and teens online for as long as possible, and young people can so easily fall into the addictive behaviors of doom scrolling and mindlessly spending money on platforms. |
| Mitigate Harms | KOSA would ensure that the strongest, most protective settings are on by default for minors. Parents are dealing with enough stressors, and technology companies do not design their platforms for families to easily understand how to put safeguards in place for children. We need these platforms to protect our children by default. |
