Congress’s big show of protecting kids online stopped when the cameras did

Just a few weeks ago, Senate lawmakers displayed a rare glimpse of bipartisanship when they grilled the CEOs of social media platforms on being asleep at the switch in protecting children from online predators. The hearings were intense, and attended by survivors, family members and advocates. 

Elected leaders from both parties slammed the tech executives for failing to take stronger action to protect America’s youth online — and for not using the technologies they’ve developed to build a safer space for children to learn, explore and grow.  

The contentious exchange sparked a tidal wave of national news coverage. In the weeks since the American people have waited patiently for legislation to be brought to the Senate floor that would force the companies represented in that room to take these issues seriously. 

It hasn’t happened. Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord continue to generate billions in ad revenue and provide an open playground for perpetrators to prey on children while enjoying “a broad liability shield” that absolves them of responsibility for what takes place on their platforms. A space the companies know to be unsafe for many young people. 

For the companies, it’s business as usual. For those in Congress, it represents a failed moment, a lost opportunity, to govern and work toward a common goal to protect kids and hold companies accountable.  

How can an important issue like this, with support from both parties, simply drift into obscurity? The public should be outraged — and demand answers from their elected federal officials. 

The American people are right to ask: Was it all just an act? Was the plan for Congress to look tough in front of the cameras in that hearing room — in front of the parents in attendance who’ve suffered unspeakable loss — knowing that a vote on a bill that would protect kids from online harm would likely never happen?  

The legislative history on this issue offers little hope of a different outcome. Multiple efforts to pass legislation to police the behavior of social media companies have failed in recent years due to the heavy influence the companies and their lobbyists wield on Capitol Hill. Past bills have also encountered pushback from groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation that oppose attempts to restrict online free speech, even when they’re designed to promote child safety.  

One example is the Kids Online Safety Act, originally introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) back in 2022. The act seeks to impose greater obligations on the part of social media companies to control activity on their respective platforms. It has stalled in the Senate ever since.   

Over 200 organizations pleaded with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to bring the Kids Online Safety Act to the floor before the end of the last legislative session. It never happened. 

Last year the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received over 36 million reports of “suspected child sexual exploitation online.” The problem is growing: The center noted a 300 percent increase in “online enticement” that occurred from 2021 to 2023. 

The recent Senate hearing is a step, not the solution, in confronting this crisis. Social media companies, as Sen. Blumenthal said of Meta and others, cannot be trusted to “grade their own homework.” 

Blumenthal added: “The public and parents in this room know that we can no longer rely on social media to provide safeguards that children and parents deserve.” 

When lawmakers who rarely agree on anything stand this united on an issue, the American people have a reasonable expectation legislative action will soon follow. Sen. Schumer can send an important message that Congress is committed to protecting online child safety by bringing a vote on the Kids Online Safety Act without further delay.  

And if this doesn’t happen, the American public will be left wondering if the outrage expressed by some of the lawmakers in that hearing room was sincere.   

“You have blood on your hands. You have a product that’s killing people,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the recent hearing. 

“Would you like to apologize for what you’ve done to these good people?” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) as he invited Zuckerberg to address the parents of children who’ve been victimized by criminals using Meta’s services. 

Those same families also deserve an apology from lawmakers for failing to pass legislation compelling social media companies to keep kids safe online. 

Lyndon Haviland, DrPH, MPH, is a distinguished scholar at the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy.