{"id":123921,"date":"2024-03-04T15:56:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T19:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=123921"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:58:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T19:58:28","slug":"online-safety-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/online-safety-for-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation for Online Safety for Kids Faces Obstacles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What’s the holdup over legislation to bolster child safety online? What concerns do tech giants have about potential legislation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite growing outrage over tech giants\u2019 failure to address child exploitation on social media platforms<\/a>, federal legislation to tackle the issue has stalled in the US Senate for years. The delay has been caused by tech lobbyists, competing legislative priorities, and the challenge of balancing parental concerns with children\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below we’ll dive into what the opponents and advocates of legislation for online safety for kids say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Fighting Child Victimization Online<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month, lawmakers blasted Big Tech chief executives for their platforms’ failure to shield children from online sexual predators. Despite universal outrage, however, legislative action to bolster online safety for kids remains stalemated.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background  <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, social media giants have faced growing criticism over their failure to address high levels of harmful online content that\u2019s <\/strong>fueled a surge in child trafficking and sexual exploitation<\/strong><\/a>. The platforms have been accused of fostering environments where children are groomed, often by criminal enterprises, then sold for sex and controlled through their social media accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families of victims allege that <\/strong>social media platforms\u2019 negligence has resulted in their children <\/strong>resorting to drug use<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>suicide<\/strong><\/a>, due to the relentless abuse they face online<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal Inaction <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At present, the only federal legislation enacted to address internet-based child victimization is 2018’s Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act<\/a> (SESTA), which aimed to curb sex trafficking by holding websites accountable for knowingly hosting or facilitating sex trafficking content.<\/strong> However, critics argue that the act infringes on internet freedom and is ineffective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since SESTA\u2019s passage, numerous federal legislative efforts to tackle online child exploitation have stalled in the Senate<\/a>. Five of these bills<\/a> originated in the Judiciary Committee to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n