Hawai’i Attorney General Anne Lopez and her counterparts around the country are urging Congress to pass legislation to strengthen online protections for children and teens.
The National Association of Attorneys General, representing the states’ chief legal officers, sent a letter encouraging passage of the Kids Online Safety Act, Senate Bill 1748. Lopez is one of 13 members of the association’s executive committee.
In the letter to leaders of the House and Senate, the attorneys general expressed support for the Senate version of the legislation, which would establish minimum safety standards for social media and gaming platforms while preserving state authority to enact and enforce laws protecting children from online dangers.
A copy of the letter is available here.
The renewed call for federal legislation follows a recent $17 billion multistate settlement with Meta, a global technology company that operates major social platforms. The settlement requires Meta to implement significant safeguards to protect minors on Facebook and Instagram.
Measures include daily time limits, restrictions on nighttime use, stronger protections against bullying, limits on potentially harmful content and enhanced parental controls.
“While the Meta settlement represents a significant step forward in protecting children online, our work is far from over,” the letter stated. “Children deserve meaningful protections regardless of which social media platform they use. Congress has an opportunity to build on the work states have already done by establishing strong, nationwide safety standards while preserving our ability to respond to emerging threats and hold companies accountable.”
Safeguards established through the Meta settlement, while significant, cannot provide consistent protections across the entire technology industry, the attorneys general wrote. They highlighted the importance of the legislation’s Duty of Care provision, which would establish a standard for social media and gaming platforms that extends beyond the settlement to account for evolving technologies and platform features.
Since 2021, state attorneys general have investigated major social media platforms amid concerns about addictive design features and their impacts on children’s mental health. Those investigations led to lawsuits against Meta and other companies, as they sought to hold platforms accountable for practices that allegedly harm young users.
“Protecting children online requires a coordinated effort at both the state and federal levels,” the letter stated. “We urge Congress to act now to establish lasting protections that put the safety and well-being of children first.”
The letter was signed by Lopez and attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
