Senators introduce ‘Kids Online Safety Act’

JACKSON, Tenn. — A new act is introduced that might benefit children and parents on social media.

Tennessee’s U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn and Connecticut’s U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced the Kids Online Safety Act.

Blumenthal says the act is going to require big tech companies to give the users the ability to opt out of algorithm recommendations and protect their personal information.

Blackburn says due to the pandemic and social media, children’s mental health has started to decline, and they say this is a way to protect children from toxic content on the internet.

“Being able to put these guidelines in place and then put some guardrails, safety guardrails around our children in this virtual space is an imperative,” Senator Blackburn said.

Both senators say they are working on getting the act into the U.S. House of Representatives.

To read more on the Kids Online Safety Act, click here.

For more local news, click here.