Attorney General Liz Murrill, alongside Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and 30 other states, is advocating for the passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) by Congress. The coalition sent a letter urging Congressional leaders to approve this bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting children from online harm before the year ends. The letter stresses the urgent need to tackle the increasing youth mental health crisis linked to social media use, noting that minors spend over five hours online daily.
Attorney General Liz Murrill expressed her support, stating: "As technology changes, parents and law enforcement are learning how social media companies fail to disclose the addicting nature of their products and the harm it does to our children. I join my fellow attorneys general in supporting the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which will create a safer online environment for our kids."
The attorneys general outlined key provisions within KOSA designed to enhance online safety for minors. These include mandatory default safety settings requiring platforms to enable their strongest protections automatically, addiction prevention measures allowing young users and parents to disable manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations, and tools empowering parents with improved capabilities to identify harmful behaviors and report dangerous content.
This federal legislative push coincides with investigations and lawsuits initiated by state attorneys general against major social media platforms like Meta and TikTok over their targeting of underage users.
Louisiana joins Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana New Hampshire New Mexico New York North Dakota Oklahoma Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Utah Vermont Wyoming in signing this letter addressed to Congressional leadership.
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