Parents push Congress to act on kids' online safety after juries find Meta and YouTube liable for harm
Fresh off landmark jury decisions finding tech companies liable for harms on their platforms, some parents are making a renewed push for online safety legislation.
"I think parents are starting to wake up and see like, whoa, this is not a safe place for my child, and they want change," Julianna Arnold, founder of the advocacy group Parents RISE!, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Arnold was among roughly 70 parents blaming tech platforms for harming or killing their children who traveled to the U.S. Capitol this week to advocate for online safety legislation that would better protect minors. The group held a vigil outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday afternoon with many parents holding pictures of their deceased children.
Arnold told Fox News Digital that she lost her 17-year-old daughter to fentanyl poisoning after a man approached her on Instagram and sold her what she thought was Percocet for her anxiety.
"Ever since then, I've been motivated to clean up these online spaces, because they’re no place for our children," Arnold said. "And now we're learning that even the way they’re designing these platforms is going to be harming our children, and they're doing it intentionally."
A Los Angeles jury in March found both Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent for knowingly addicting and harming a young woman. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, was also ordered to pay a $345 million fine after a New Mexico jury found the company failed to protect against child sexual exploitation and misled consumers about the safety of its platform.
Meta and Google have vigorously pushed back on claims that their platforms are addictive and have vowed to appeal both rulings.
Arnold attended the Los Angeles trial and said the unprecedented verdicts finding that platforms can be held responsible for content on their platforms "changed everything" for the online safety movement.
"Now, we're not here to tell our story only," Arnold said, referring to her visit to Capitol Hill. "We're here to show the evidence that is out there that shows that these platforms are intentionally trying to addict our children, and that they are targeting our children because they want more eyeballs on their platform so they make more money."
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A spokesperson for Meta told Fox News Digital that the company continues to work to make its products safer.
"We are listening to families, working closely with experts and conducting research to understand how to make meaningful changes, like Teen Accounts," the spokesperson said. "We’ll keep making progress to protect teens online."
Efforts to pass online safety legislation have so far stalled in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Arnold said her message to lawmakers is less talk, more action.
"We don't need to have another hearing with the big tech executives," Arnold said. "We don't need to have all these conversations and tell our stories again, because I feel like the evidence is out there now and that's what we brought to them today."
Arnold and other online safety advocates are urging Congress to pass the Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which has a veto-proof majority with 74 cosponsors. The legislation includes a "duty of care" provision legally requiring tech companies to tailor their platforms to children’s safety and omits preemption language that would restrict states’ ability to regulate online safety.
KOSA has yet to advance out of the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, or receive a chamber-wide vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have both endorsed the legislation.
"We're urging that the Senate and Sen. Cruz mark it up, get it out of committee, and put it on the floor," Arnold said.
"This is really a nonpartisan issue," she added. "It's the safety of our children, the most sacred things that we have."