Thursday, the US Senate advanced a pair of related bills — including one known as the Kids Online Safety Act, spurred by congressional testimony about the harmful effects of social media on minors.
Despite lawmakers' hesitancy to regulate internet platforms, it cleared a procedural hurdle and could be up for a full vote in the Senate next week.
But not all are comfortable with the bill's establishment of a "duty of care" for sites frequented by young visitors meant to mitigate harms related to mental health.
"I have no doubt that the authors of the bill on the floor genuinely want to protect children, but the bill they've written promises to be Pandora's box of unintended consequences," Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul cautioned in a floor speech.
Paul told colleagues he foresees government overreach resulting from the attempt to shield kids from content that could lead to bullying, anxiety, depression, and other side-effects associated with excessive social media use.
"While proponents of the bill claim that the bill is not designed to regulate content, imposing a 'duty of care' on the internet platforms associated with mental health can only lead to one outcome: the stifling of First Amendment protected speech," he said.
And conservative critics aren't alone. Civil rights groups and LGBTQ advocates have also sounded alarms over possible censorship that could result from the bill.
Bipartisan backers, however, say the government "can no longer trust Big Tech to do the job" and have made changes in an attempt to put critics, like Paul, more at ease with the legislation.
But debate continues.
Even if the bill wins final passage in the Senate, its prospects in the House are less certain.
