On
February
14,
2023,
the
U.S.
Senate
Committee
on
the
Judiciary
held
a
hearing
titled,
“Protecting
Our
Children
Online.”
Chaired
by
Sen.
Durbin,
the
hearing
examined
the
potentially
harmful
effects
of
social
media
use
on
young
people,
and
represented
a
renewal
of
the
Committee’s
efforts
to
pass
legislation
to
protect
children
and
teenagers
online.
In
2022,
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
approved
several
bills
designed
to
enhance
the
online
safety
and
wellbeing
of
children
and
teenagers,
among
them
the
Kids
Online
Protection
Act
(“KOSA”),
but
the
bills
did
not
receive
a
floor
vote.
During
the
hearing,
Democratic
and
Republican
senators
expressed
their
commitment
to
pass
bills
that
would
limit
the
immunity
of
social
media
companies
under
Section
230
of
the
Communications
Decency
Act,
and
would
require
website
and
app
developers
to
design
products
that
protect
young
people
from
cyberbullying,
online
sexual
exploitation,
social
media
addiction,
and
other
harms.
The
hearing
witnesses,
advocates
in
this
space,
focused
on
the
negative
effects
of
social
media
use
on
youth
brain
development,
and
urged
the
federal
government
to
match
or
exceed
the
commitments
made
by
the
private
sector
to
fund
and
support
research
into
the
impact
social
media
platforms
have
on
children
and
teens.
They
also
proposed
developing
warnings
and
user
guidelines
for
social
media
platforms,
and
expressed
support
for
proposed
federal
legislation
that
would
protect
children
online.
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