Bipartisan safety legislation is designed to protect children online

Bipartisan safety legislation is designed to protect children online

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee about the measure they have proposed: The Kids Online Safety Act.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

When Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen released internal company documents showing the tech giant did nothing to mitigate² the dangerous effects of social media on kids, it prompted Congress to act. After months of hearings, a pair of senators are now introducing a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting kids online. The legislation will require tech companies to provide families with tools and additional transparency to select what kind of content your kid is seeing. Joining us now to talk about the bill is the bipartisan pair of senators introducing the bill, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Senator Blumenthal, let's start with you. Many of the social media platforms out there already have parental³ controls, so what difference will this legislation make?

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: They may have what the tech company calls parental controls, but this legislation will give them effective tools to see what their kids are doing, to work with their children. It's not only about empowering parents. It's really giving kids the option to opt⁴ out of algorithmic recommendations or disable addictive⁵ product features. And these controls will give both parents and children the power to really get back their lives online.

MARTINEZ: Senator Blackburn, let's turn to you. Research shows that the impact of social media on kids, especially young girls, can be extremely harmful. Online spaces sometimes are hostile environments that lead to bullying⁶, depression, self-harm and a lot of other things. So how will these new measures target the mental side effects of social media?

MARSHA BLACKBURN: What became very apparent as we talked to mental health professionals, pediatricians, parents, teachers and kids themselves was that when kids are online, kids are the product. And what we heard repeatedly - there needs to be a toolbox that they can use to turn off and to manage and control what they're seeing. Now, what we do know is that some of these platforms have been used by predators⁷ and pedophiles to track children, to pull them into adverse⁸ relationships. We know that some of these platforms have been used by drug dealers⁹. And this is why you see these guide rails put in place in this legislation. They are placed there to make certain that there is greater safety protections for children when they're online.

MARTINEZ: Senator Blackburn, Facebook has already been sending parents notifications of their kids' weekly activity log. Is this part of the controls that you mean to make standard at some point for all social media sites, anything like this, and how are they reacting?

BLACKBURN: Yeah. What you're going to see is these Big Tech companies are going to begin to talk about safety online. They're going to talk about kids' privacy online. They're going to talk about creating that safe environment. But social media will push the envelope until we kind of slap their hand and rein¹⁰ them in.

MARTINEZ: So on that, Senator Blumenthal, I know that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, were on the verge¹¹ of launching an Instagram Kids app. They got a lot of pushback on that, so it's on hold at the very least. Will the Senate take steps to stop this app from becoming a reality?

BLUMENTHAL: In my view, this bill ought to take action to stop this kind of abuse. And the app aimed at kids, the new developments that target them even more, should be barred if they don't voluntarily come around to the right point of view. Because, as Senator Blackburn said so well, these kinds of practices have real-life consequences, and I think that we need to act much more aggressively. And...

MARTINEZ: How would the Senate be able to stop that, Senator? How would the Senate be able to stop a company from making this product?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, our bill imposes a legal responsibility, a standard of care that presumably might well be violated, and that is enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general across the country.

MARTINEZ: And, Senator Blackburn, are you on board with that, to be able to stop, say, Meta from creating an Instagram-for-kids type of product?

BLACKBURN: I think that what you have to look at is having the process and the guidelines in place that we have. If they wanted to do something like an Instagram Kids, then they would have to configure it to work within the Kids Online Safety Act. The Kids Online Safety Act would apply to all children from age 17 and under. So you're looking at that age change and not something that is 13 and under. This would cause these companies, like Instagram, that have known of children that were 8 years old that were not supposed to be on Instagram - it would show that they were going to have to be more transparent¹², they were going to have to face a stricter guideline for any product that they were going to create.

MARTINEZ: Senator Blumenthal, just as parents try to keep up with their kids, Congress, it appears, is struggling to keep up with the ever-growing tech industry. So how will this legislation help even the odds¹³ a bit, and what else is Congress doing to try and keep up?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, you're absolutely right, and we've tried to design this legislation to be flexible and to foresee the dangers that may arise with advancing technology. But there's also - was the option of amending¹⁴ it. We need to hold Big Tech accountable because they have shown they have put profits above safety, and that's a betrayal of their trust. We can't count on them to police or regulate themselves. We need transparency, safeguards, tools for parents.

MARTINEZ: And what about simplicity¹⁵?

BLUMENTHAL: Absolutely. Simplicity, clarity, transparency have to be watchwords here.

MARTINEZ: Senator Blackburn, so clearly this has bipartisan support. Wondering when we might see this bill get a vote.

BLACKBURN: The driver on this is going to be the American people and a lot of moms and grandmoms that are out there that are saying, you know, we want our children to be safe.

MARTINEZ: That's Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn. My thanks to you both.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

BLACKBURN: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

3 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

4 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

5 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

6 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

9 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

10 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

13 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

14 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

15 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。