VIDEO: Capito Votes to Advance the Kids Online Safety Act from Commerce Committee

To watch Senator Capito's remarks, clickhere or the image above.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted to advance the Kids Online Safety Act, legislation that Senator Capito helped introduce to protect children from online dangers associated with social media and provide guardrails to better ensure their safety. Prior to Senator Capito's remarks, this legislation passed the Commerce Committee unanimously and will now head to the Senate Floor.

HIGHLIGHTS:

IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY: "We've had a lot of hearings on the addictive nature and how things creep into your feed, and what the schools are doing. So, this is really, probably, I think the most important part is safety."

NEED FOR GUARDRAILS: "We need to have these guardrails to protect them and shield them. You know, if the pushback is 'we can't do it,' or 'it's too complicated' from the online folks, quite honestly, we don't believe you. We don't believe that, and I think our overwhelming vote today shows that."

ACTION BY CONGRESS NEEDED: "We can better safeguard our youth and filter out violent, sexual, and deceptive content that they may encounter. As technology and access to materials continues to evolve, this bill will help Congress stay up to date. That's another problem. Everything changes so rapidly and so quickly that the emerging risks are very difficult to see."

BACKGROUND:

The Kids Online Safety Act provides children and their parents with the tool's safeguards, and transparency they to protect against online harms. The bill requires social media platforms to put the well-being of children first, ensuring an environment that is safe by default. This legislation requires that platforms:

• Cannot use kids' data without consent
• Must have addictive features disables by default for kids
• Combats and prevents harmful advertising to minors
• Must be transparent in the ways they are combatting harm

# # #