Attorney General Ashley Moody, alongside 31 other attorneys general, is advocating for the passage of the Kids Online Safety Act by Congress. This bipartisan legislation aims to protect children from online harm and address concerns over youth mental health linked to social media use. Current studies indicate that minors spend more than five hours daily on the internet.
Moody expressed her concerns, stating, “As the mother of a school-aged child, I am extremely concerned about how social media is affecting the mental health of our children. As Florida’s Attorney General, I am joining my colleagues in asking Congress to put into place simple measures to protect minors online.”
The coalition has sent a letter to congressional leaders outlining key provisions of the proposed act. These include mandatory default safety settings for minors on platforms, addiction prevention measures allowing young users and parents to disable manipulative features, and enhanced parental tools for identifying harmful behaviors and reporting dangerous content.
This initiative follows investigations and lawsuits by state attorney general offices against major social media companies like Meta and TikTok for targeting underage users.
The effort includes support from attorneys general across numerous states and districts: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma,Rhode Island,South Carolina,South Dakota,Tennessee ,Utah,Vermont,and Wyoming.