Senate Passes Child Online Safety Bill, Sending It to an Uncertain House Fate

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The Senate on Tuesday passed bipartisan legislation to impose sweeping safety and privacy requirements for children and teens on social media and other technology platforms, voting overwhelmingly to send the measure to the House, where its fate was uncertain. Passage of the measure, which has been the subject of a dogged advocacy campaign by parents who say their children lost their lives because of something they found or saw on social media, marked a rare bipartisan achievement at a time of deep polarization in Congress. Despite the lopsided support among Republicans and Democrats, the package faces a fierce lobbying effort by technology companies that are resisting new regulation, and deep skepticism among free speech advocates who argue that it would chill individual expression and potentially harm some of those whom the bill aims to protect. The vote was 91 to 3 to approve the measure, sending it to the House, which is in a summer recess until September. The legislation is the product of years of work by lawmakers and parents to overhaul digital privacy and safety laws as social networking sites, digital gaming and other online platforms increasingly dominate children’s and teens’ lives.