Senate Passes Bills to Protect Kids Online

On Tuesday, the Senate passed a pair of bills to protect kids from online content. 

The Kids Online Safety Act and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection is the first major effort from Congress to hold tech companies accountable. 

The Kids Online Safety Act would require social media companies to provide better protections for those under the age of 17. The Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection would create stronger online privacy protections and would bar targeted advertising. 

Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, analysis and commentary regarding the latest update on this case. To schedule an interview with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected]

Lorenzo Norris, is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chief wellness officer at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Lorien Abroms is a professor of prevention and community health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. She has studied how social media and digital communication technology can be used for health promotion. She can also talk about the potential for negative impact on teens and young adults. She is the founding director of Behavioral Research Insights and DiGital Health Technology Institute.

Vikram R. Bhargava is an assistant professor of strategic management & public policy. His research centers around the distinctive ethics and policy issues that technology gives rise to in organizational contexts. He’s interested in topics including technology addiction, mass social media outrage, artificial intelligence, and other topics related to technology policy and ethics. Bhargava’s paper, “Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction”, dives into why scholars, policy makers, and the managers of social media companies should treat social media addiction as a serious moral problem. 

Mohana Mukherjee is a sociologist specializing in crime, cyber-criminology, and youth conflict. With over a decade of experience in the field of sociology, particularly in the realm of crime and deviance, she has undertaken comprehensive research on a wide array of subjects. Her research pursuits cover a range of themes, including investigations into school bullying, youth conflict dynamics, the intricate interplay between sexual assault and criminal conduct, as well as cyber-criminology with a specific focus on cyberbullying and image-based sexual harassment.

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