September 17, 2024
Contact: Cory Combs, Senior Communications Manager
Kids’ online safety coalition launches new comprehensive campaign to advance historic social media safeguards
Washington, D.C. – September 17, 2024 – Amid overwhelming public support for Congress to pass responsible safeguards following a historic, bipartisan 91-3 vote on the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) in the Senate, Issue One Action, ParentsSOS, and Fairplay have launched a major campaign to advance the Kids Online Safety Act.
The mid-six-figure campaign includes TV, radio, and digital ads that will air in Louisiana and Washington, D.C., to bring this issue to the attention of lawmakers — particularly House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). The ads feature Kristin Bride, a parent survivor and member of Issue One's Council for Responsible Social Media, and Brandon Guffy, a conservative lawmaker from South Carolina, who lost his son to suicide after predators used Instagram to “sextort” the child.
The ads will run through next week in Washington, D.C., local Louisiana news markets, and on Fox News’ daily morning show, “Fox & Friends.” Watch the ads here and here.
KOSA would provide children and parents with new social media safeguards, require the strongest safety settings by default, and impose penalties on companies whose design features expose children to these types of harms on their platforms. The bipartisan bill is set to be marked up this week in the House.
With pressure mounting on Congress to enact responsible safeguards that protect the safety and well-being of kids and teens online, Meta today announced a series of changes impacting Instagram designed to address growing concerns about the dangerous and harmful impacts social media is having on young users.
In response to Meta’s announcement, Issue One released a statement in which Alix Fraser, director of Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media, said: “It’s far past time social media companies do more to protect our kids online. This latest tool from Meta is a small step in the right direction, but it won’t change the fact that Meta has proven time and time again that they are incapable of policing themselves. Their products and algorithms are designed to target kids and get them hooked, and we only know that because whistleblowers have bravely stepped forward to shine light on these horrible business practices.”
Fraser continued: “The simple fact is that this announcement comes as congressional pressure is mounting and support for the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act continues to build. It wouldn’t be the first time Meta made a promise to avoid congressional action and then never followed through or quietly backed away. We need Congress to finally act and put kids before big tech’s profits.”
Previous analyses by Issue One have shown how Big Tech has continued to spend millions and deploy a slew of lobbyists to disrupt growing bipartisan support for commonsense reforms that prioritize the safety of our children and the health of our democracy over the bottom line of a few corporations. Today’s campaign launch underscores the historic moment we are in and the need for Congress to act now.
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Issue One Action is a nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to uniting Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the fight to fix our broken political system.
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit organization committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s wellbeing by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech.
Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS), is an educational initiative created by families who have lost children as a result of online harms. The initiative’s goal is to raise awareness about the importance of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a piece of legislation addressing growing concern about the impact of online and social media platforms on children and teens. The initiative can be found on X as @Parents4SOS and on Facebook as Parents for Safe Online Spaces.