[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 85 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Kids Off Social Media Act

  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, over the past year, I have worked with 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle on legislation to protect kids 
from the harms of social media.
  The role of platforms like Instagram and TikTok in turbocharging the 
mental health crisis among our kids is clear--the data shows it; our 
personal experience shows it; warnings from experts like the Surgeon 
General confirm it--which is why last month, after months of work with 
the Commerce Committee and outside stakeholders, I introduced an 
updated version of my bipartisan bill called the Kids Off Social Media 
Act with Senators Cruz, Murphy, Britt, and many others.
  The bill does a few very straightforward things. First, it sets the 
minimum age of social media use to 13. Second, it bans platforms from 
targeting kids under 17 with their powerful black-box algorithms. 
Third, it blocks social media sites from school networks--something 
that almost 90 percent of all schools already do.
  Over the past several weeks, my team and I have continued to work 
with other Member offices as well as a wide range of outside 
stakeholders to refine the bill in important ways, and we continue to 
have productive conversations on strengthening the bill in order to 
best protect kids online.
  Colleagues may have seen the hotline run on my bill, and we continue 
to work toward a markup. There are also several other bills pending on 
this issue, which I support. It is my hope that the Senate will 
consider all of these bills in short order and finally give kids the 
help and the protection they need.
  Congress has to act in this area. We now have many good proposals, 
most of them not in competition with each other. Let's take some 
action.

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