[WASHINGTON, DC] - On Tuesday, June 23, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined 48 bereaved families, lawmakers, youth advocates, and child safety experts at a memorial marking Social Media Victims Remembrance Day.

"We are here to honor so many young people. But we need to honor them with more than words - we need to honor them with action," Blumenthal said. "I'm angry at Big Tech and Mark Zuckerberg, but I'm also angry at my colleagues in that building. I am angry at the United States Congress for its inaction."

"And as all of you know, because you've knocked on those doors, you've talked to them, they all know how to talk the talk, right? Oh, we feel for you, we grieve with you. Well, they need to put some spine where their words are, and reject the campaign contributions, and shut out the lobbyists, and say no to the lawyers."

In his remarks, Blumenthal called on Congress to act by passing the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) approved by the Senate in an overwhelming bipartisan 91-3 vote. In the Senate, KOSA has 76 co-sponsors and creates a duty for online platforms to take meaningful steps to prevent users of their products from being hurt, just as every other industry in America is required to do. The "duty of care" requires social media companies to prevent and mitigate certain harms that they know their platforms and products are causing to young users as a result of their own design choices, such as their recommendation algorithms and addictive product features. The specific covered harms include suicide, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and sexual exploitation.

"If my colleagues are serious, they're going to reject laws that eliminate the Duty of Care. Well, they'll tell you, you know, again, it's complicated, it's difficult - there's nothing complicated about the Duty of Care," Blumenthal said.

"If you make a defective toaster and it blows up in someone's home, they're liable. If you make a defective car, and it careens into a tree, they're liable. If you make an airplane that crashes because it has defective parts, they're liable. When Big Tech makes products that addict and kill young people, they should be liable under a Duty of Care that is clear and effective."

Blumenthal also demanded Congress protect the rights of families to seek justice through the courts for the harms they have suffered and guard the ability of individual states to pass enforceable laws that protect their citizens.

"As a former Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, laws are dead letter if they're not enforced - if they just sit on the books. And what really is most effective in enforcing them are you - parents, children. How do we know? Look at New Mexico, look at California, look at the victories that we have when real people take their cases to court."

"Why do you think Meta is trying to get a sweet deal from the White House? Because they know they are on the losing side of those court actions when they're brought by everyday Americans, parents who've lost children, or children who have been injured."

"Let's preserve private rights of action, let's preserve your ability to get into court and have your day before a judge and a jury."

"I am not willing to sacrifice that right. It is an American right. It's about justice. It's about every individual having the right to go to court and enforce your rights under the law."

Blumenthal concluded by thanking the families and advocates who have supported KOSA and advocated for change.

"Now, those milestone victories in California and New Mexico are only the beginning. If you are daunted or discouraged - and I have to admit, there are days when I am - remember all the children who are going to benefit from the work that you are doing," Blumenthal said.

"Since our last meeting here, I've become a grandfather. And for all of us who have children or grandchildren, this issue is not about some abstraction - some principle that we learned in law school or take to court. It is about real lives. It is about the Bride family and the Neville family. It is about every one of who is here today who have mustered the courage - and I don't know how you have it - but you are giving us the spirit and the drive and the inspiration that we need to continue this fight."

Yesterday's event was the largest ever public memorial for kids who have lost their lives to social media harms. The memorial featured 272 placards placed across Upper Senate Park, each showing the picture and forever age of a child lost to online harms including sextortion, drug poisoning, cyberbullying, addictive algorithms pushing suicide ideation, and dangerous social media challenges.

This was the first Social Media Victims Remembrance Day (SMVRD) Memorial since the ruling against Big Tech companies in a landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles, which found that Meta and YouTube acted with oppression, malice, or fraud in its failures to warn and negligent design of harmful products. Many of the families who attended this year's Memorial were those that Mark Zuckerberg apologized to during his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2024.

Social Media Victims Remembrance Day is a national day to honor children and young people lost to social media-related harms. The day was founded by Kristin Bride and Amy Neville, mothers of Carson Bride (forever 16) and Alexander Neville (forever 14), respectively, who each died on June 23, 2020 from different harms on Snapchat.

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1. KOSA