{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-celebrates-senate-passage-of-historic-online-child-safety-legislation/", "Ricketts\u00a0Celebrates Senate Passage of Historic Online Child Safety Legislation", "2024-07-31", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "July 31, 2024\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) celebrated Senate passage of historic online child safety legislation. The Kids Online Safety Act and Children and Teens\u2019 Online Privacy Protection Act passed together in a bipartisan vote of 91-3. Ricketts made the comments while on a conference call with Nebraska media.\n\n\u201cSocial media has also created dangers to our young people. Predators target kids online. Videos promote self-harm and eating disorders. Content fosters body image issues. Bullies destroy the mental health of our kids,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cThis week, the Senate took an important step to fix that. We passed two bills that better protect children and teenagers online. They also give parents new tools, safeguards, and needed transparency. When it comes to kids, safety should be the default.\u201d\n\n\u201cCompanies in every other industry must take steps to prevent users from being hurt. Social media companies should do the same,\u201d Ricketts continued. \u201cSocial media companies should do the same. Our bill makes that a reality.\u201d\n\nWatch the video HERE.\n\nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nSenator Ricketts: \u201cOver the past 20 years, social media platforms have connected people and communities.\n\n\u201cThat connectivity is often positive. Yet, we can\u2019t ignore the dangers.\n\n\u201cIn recent court filings, the Justice Department claims China has used TikTok to try to undermine American values, push their communist agenda, and spy on Americans.\n\n\u201cWe took action to ban China\u2019s ownership of TikTok earlier this year.\n\n\u201cI also banned it entirely on state devices when I was Governor.\n\n\u201cSocial media has also created dangers to our young people. Predators target kids online. Videos promote self-harm and eating disorders. Content fosters body image issues. Bullies destroy the mental health of our kids.\n\n\u201cThis week, the Senate took an important step to fix that.\n\n\u201cWe passed two bills that better protect children and teenagers online. They also give parents new tools, safeguards, and needed transparency.\n\n\u201cWhen it comes to kids, safety should be the default.\n\n\u201cI co-led the Kids Online Safety Act with Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal. The bill requires social media platforms to put the well-being of children first.\n\n\u201cIt requires platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information.\n\n\u201cIt gives an option to disable addictive product features and an opt-out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.\n\n\u201cIt also creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors.\n\n\u201cThis includes content that promotes suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and illegal products like alcohol.\n\n\u201cCompanies in every other industry must take steps to prevent users from being hurt. Social media companies should do the same. Our bill makes that a reality.\n\n\u201cWe also passed an updated version of the Children and Teens\u2019 Online Privacy Protection Act.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s called COPPA 2.0 from Senator Cassidy. The current online privacy laws for children hadn\u2019t been updated in twenty-five years.\n\n\u201cThis update was long overdue. It expands the age protections to include teenagers under the age of seventeen.\n\n\u201cIt bans targeted advertising toward minors. It limits data collection and strengthen parental controls.\n\n\u201cI encourage the House to pass both these bills and send them to the president\u2019s desk.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:32:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-celebrates-senate-passage-of-historic-online-child-safety-legislation/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8241590112447739, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}