Child Advocates Launch New Campaign Demanding Congress Pass Legislation to Regulate Dangerous Social Media Platforms

SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2024—Three months after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized to parents during a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, leading children's advocacy groups are launching a new campaign to urge Congress to finally pass legislation to force social media companies to change their platforms to protect kids and teens.

The groups launched a new site today, ActionNotApologies.org, that houses a digital clock that registers the days, hours, and minutes that have lapsed since senators forced Zuckerberg to apologize. The site also includes a grassroots petition to demonstrate support for the popular and bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). Mobile billboard ads will target key congressional decision-makers on Capitol Hill and at their largest district offices, and ads will also target key leaders on social media and cable networks.

The new campaign is made possible by organizations that have been advocating for kids' online safety for years—Common Sense Media, Issue One, American Psychological Association, Fairplay, ParentsSOS, American Federation of Teachers, Council for Responsible Social Media, and Eating Disorders Coalition—and will be amplified by a large coalition of advocates for children's online safety.

The campaign is launching at a time of increasing attention to the impact of social media platforms on kids and teens but after years of delay by Congress in addressing the issue and taking action for kids. Most recently, KOSA has more than 65 Senate cosponsors, and a companion bill was recently introduced in the House. COPPA 2.0 also has a growing number of Senate cosponsors, and a companion bill in the House. Both bills were the subject of a hearing by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee earlier this month.

"Apologies do not protect kids. Only new laws will protect kids and teens online at this point," said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. "We know that Meta and other large social media companies will continue to recklessly maximize profits at the expense of our children's health and well-being unless lawmakers force them to change the design and operation of their products. Senators and Members of Congress have promised to take action to better protect kids, teens, and the general public online. We are calling on them to live up to their promises. Congress should pass KOSA and COPPA 2.0 now and continue to work on other important privacy and social media reforms after that."

"It's been three months since Mark Zuckerberg had to apologize to parents who'd lost their children to social media bullying, six months since he told me he would read our ‘Likes vs. Learning' report to seriously address the issues we raised, and six years since he first stood before Congress and promised to take action for the harm caused by his platforms. In that time, the most basic requests of parents, educators, child psychologists, and advocates have been brushed aside, even when we urged common sense reforms, such as allowing schools to flag abusive content. Now, time's up for Mark and Meta. There's a bipartisan consensus that federal regulatory action, the type Zuckerberg has been desperate to avoid, is long overdue," said Randi Weingarten, president of AFT. "We need clear, enforceable rules to help kids stay safe on social media platforms. And Congress is ready to act."

"Dunking on CEOs and forcing them to apologize may make for great theater, but it doesn't actually save children's lives. That requires political will and action," said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay. "Every day that Congress delays passing COPPA 2.0 and KOSA means more cyberbullying, more sextortion, more deadly rabbit holes, and more social media addiction."

"Social media platforms can't be trusted to grade their own homework or act in the best interest of users — especially children. That's why we need bipartisan legislation like KOSA that would make tech companies design safer platforms for children to ensure a healthy relationship between social media and our communities," said Alix Fraser, director of Issue One's Council for Responsible Social Media. "KOSA would place the well-being of children before Big Tech profits, establish responsible safeguards by default, and disable addictive features on sites. The time for apologies is over — we need action."

"With an average of seven years to recover from an eating disorder, Big Tech has stolen the adolescence of thousands of children for their own profit. Congress has the power to change the trajectory of a child's life for the better, and needs to do so this year," said Allison Ivie, government relations representative for the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action.

"The best apology Big Tech can make is to fix their social media platforms, so they stop breaking our kids," said Erich Mische, Executive Director of SAVE-Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. "But we know that despite growing evidence of the harm their products are inflicting on youth mental health, the increases in youth suicidal ideation and suicide, Big Tech can't be counted on to do the right thing. An apology may make for good public relations, but it does nothing to save a young person's life. Congress has it within their power to make Big Tech do more than apologize – they can make them fix their platforms by passing KOSA."

To learn more or to sign the petition, please visit ActionNotApologies.org.

About Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Learn more at commonsense.org.