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Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today because the time to protect our kids from these online platforms is now, after decades of delay, thanks to our colleagues, Senators Blumenthal, Blackburn, Markey, and Cassidy, as well as Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz, Judiciary Committee Chair Durbin and Leader Schumer, as well as Ranking Member Graham. I serve on both committees. I have been a strong proponent of these bills as well as others.

For too long, social media companies have turned a blind eye when children join their platforms and build algorithms that push harmful content out to kids.

What have we seen? A recent study from the Mayo Clinic showed us--the study found kids have difficulty sleeping, unrealistic expectations about their bodies or their lives, exposure to online predators, subject to cyber bullying. The result of this is tragic results for teens.

I am thinking of Devin Norring from Hastings, MN. I have gotten to know his mom Bridgette. Struggling with migraines, he bought what he thought was Percocet online on Snapchat, but it wasn't really Percocet. It was laced with fentanyl. Right off Snapchat, he got that pill. He died.

Alexander Neville, like Devin, purchased a pill online that turned out to be counterfeit made with fentanyl. It killed him. He was only 14.

Carson Bride ended his life 4 years ago after he was viciously cyber bullied by his high school classmates who were using Snapchat's anonymous app. Not so anonymous for Carson Bride.

I met with their moms. They have come to the Capitol. They are here today. It is time to get this done with no delay. Why do they even need to be here? Because there weren't safeguards and rules already in place.

Why didn't these companies act when they learned of the danger? Let's be clear. They knew of the danger. This is about profits over safety.

When that Boeing plane door fell out, what happened? We grounded the fleet. We made sure it was safe. Why haven't we been doing this here?

It is time to act. It has been 26 years since Congress passed any meaningful kids' online privacy legislation. I am so honored that the chair of the Judiciary Committee is here, Senator Durbin, who helped me and Senator Cornyn to get the SHIELD Act through this Chamber, which would prohibit the online distribution of explicit and intimate images, also known as revenge porn.

We just passed Senator Durbin's DEFIANCE Act, with Senator Hawley and Senator Graham and myself, to allow victims of explicit deepfakes to seek the justice that they deserve.

The Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act before us will expand existing laws to protect children online. It also goes further to ensure a safe online environment for children by creating a legal duty for social media companies to take all necessary steps to protect kids from harmful features and algorithms on their platforms.

I will never forget the parent who once told me that she was relying on her older kids because she couldn't figure out how to stop her younger kid from putting up more and more apps, and she couldn't get around it. She said it was like water overflowing a sink, and she was out there by herself with a mop trying to mop it up. I thought that kind of said it all for how parents feel. We need to stand by their side.

In addition to the bills that are so important before us today, we need to pass the Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act, which requires social media companies to report illegal drug sales on their platforms. To law enforcement, that bill is heading this way to the floor.

We need to finally take this on; not put our heads in the sand, not expect those parents to be out there with a mop while these big companies are profiting off of their kids. This is a moment, but this is only a beginning. There is so much more work to do.

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