VOA科学技术2024--First Online Child Safety Bill Passes US Senate

The U.S. Senate has approved the nation's first major legislation aimed at protecting children from internet harms.

Two bills passed the Senate by a vote of 91-3 on Tuesday. But the measures will also need to be passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to become law. It is currently unclear whether the House will approve the bills in the future.

One bill is known as the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA. The other is called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0).

What do the measures do?

The KOSA bill requires technology companies to take steps to provide a "duty of care" to protect young users. This legal term covers a range of steps businesses need to take in an effort to "prevent and mitigate¹" harm to children. Such harms include bullying³ and violence, as well as online information related to suicide, eating disorders⁴ and substance and sexual abuse.

The bill known as COPPA 2.0 is designed to increase privacy rules related to children. The bill bans some targeted advertising⁵ to kids online. It also bars data collection on children without their knowledge or approval. And it gives parents and young users the ability to remove personal information from social media services.

In addition, the bills would require companies to permit minors⁶ to opt⁷ out of product tools that use activity history to predict and suggest additional content to keep users online for long periods.

How will they be enforced?

The bill empowers state attorney general representatives to enforce most parts of the laws. However, the "duty of care" part cannot be enforced by state attorneys general. That change was made after concerns were raised that some states may seek to block information related to LGBTQ issues or reproductive rights.

Wider enforcement will be dealt with by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which will help decide what kinds of content is "harmful" to children.

Who supports the measures?

KOSA and COPPA 2.0 are being supported by a wide range of nonprofits, technology accountability organizations and parental⁸ rights groups. In addition, the bills have been supported by major groups representing American doctors and teachers.

Some well-known technology companies - including Microsoft, X and Snap - have also expressed support. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has not publicly expressed strong support or opposition⁹ to the measures. Meta has said in the past it is not completely against some government regulation of social media.

Who opposes the legislation?

Some technology industry groups and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have criticized the measures. They have suggested that differing definitions of what is considered harmful to children could result in minors being blocked from important information. Such information could include LGBTQ issues, reproductive rights or vaccines¹⁰.

Some changes were made earlier to the legislation in an effort to overcome these concerns, but some critics said those did not go far enough. "They made improvements, but not enough," said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. He was one of three senators who voted against the bills. He recently told reporters, "I still think it is going to harm a lot of LGBTQ kids because of the way it's going to make it difficult for them to get information."

Can the legislation pass the House?

Josh Golin is executive director of Fairplay, a nonprofit group working to protect children from online marketing¹¹ and other possible harms. He told The Associated Press before the Senate vote that he is "very hopeful" the bills will eventually be passed by both houses of Congress.

"The reason it has not come to a vote yet is that passing legislation is really hard, particularly when you're trying to regulate one of the, if not the most powerful industry in the world," Golin said.

Words in This Story

mitigate - v. to reduce the harmful effects of something

bully² - v. to purposefully frighten someone who is smaller or weaker than you

opt out - v. to choose not to be part of an activity or to stop being part of it

LGBTQ - n. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning one's sexual or gender¹² identity

accountable - adj. being responsible for one's own actions and being able to explain those actions

regulate - v. to control an activity or process, especially by using rules or laws

1 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。

2 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

3 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》

4 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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？

8 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。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

11 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

12 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。