Social media bills aim to protect kids’ health

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

May 14, 2024 View in browser   By Daniel Payne, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker TECH MAZE Congress is considering ways to make phones less addictive. | AFP via Getty Images Senate leaders are gauging support for three bills promoting children’s online safety, the offices of Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told our Rebecca Kern. The Kids Online Safety Act, which Blackburn and Blumenthal sponsored, would require social media platforms to prevent the spread of harmful content, such as material related to suicide or eating disorders, on their sites. Why it matters: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has warned that social media might be contributing to an increase in mental illness among youth. An advisory from Murthy last year said adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. Assessing support, and opposition, is known as hotlining. If no one objects, a bill sponsor can call for passage by unanimous consent, avoiding the lengthy debate that accompanies other Senate legislation. Behind the scenes: Lawmakers started additional hotlines Thursday to push forward the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) — a bill to update a 1998 children’s privacy law by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) — and the Kids Off Social Media Act— a bill to bar kids under 13 on apps by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) — according to a Senate aide, who was granted anonymity to speak about the legislative maneuvering. The Kids Online Safety Act has 69 co-sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — meaning he has a filibuster-proof majority if he brings it to a floor vote. But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has previously opposed the act out of concern that conservative attorneys general could use the law to restrict trans and LGBTQ+ social media content. And Patriot Voices, a conservative group affiliated with former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), also opposes the bill for fear it could restrict access to socially conservative or religious content. Schumer’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF HEALTHCARE POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like healthcare, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced and better sourced than any other. Our healthcare reporting team—including Alice Miranda Ollstein, Megan Messerly and Robert King—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of health policy and the healthcare industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Seneca Creek State Park, Md. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Taking more time to make a decision about stopping life support after a traumatic brain injury may be beneficial, new research suggests. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.  WORLD VIEW Macron has social media regulation on his mind. | AP Photo The potential for social media regulation to protect children’s mental health is growing in France, where President Emmanuel Macron said this month that he plans to follow up soon on the recommendations of a panel he created and tasked a neurologist and psychiatry professor to lead. Why it matters: The panel’s report suggests blocking access to the most popular social networks until kids turn 18, our Océane Herrero reports. It also recommends creating a “European ethical standard” for platforms and an agency dedicated to digital governance. Marina Ferrari, the French digital transition minister, has already hinted that she’d like new regulations to rein in tech platforms’ addictive design features and a “polluter pays” standard requiring tech firms to finance research into their websites’ health effects and prevention programs to mitigate them. Axelle Desaint, a panel member who runs an internet education program, told POLITICO that the social media industry had underestimated the desire for regulation. “Some didn’t understand what was at stake,” she said. The group of 10 experts had encouraged tech firms to send technical staff to their hearings, but only public affairs managers appeared. Rebuttal: Afnum, a French advocacy group whose members include Google, Microsoft and Amazon, has pushed for educational campaigns encouraging parents to monitor their kids’ screen time and opposed limits on using the platforms. It called the panel’s report “unsubstantiated.”   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     FORWARD THINKING Public policy aimed at reducing mistreatment of children could also alleviate mental illness, a new study argues. | AP Kids who are mistreated are at increased risk of developing mental illness. That’s intuitive, but a new study in JAMA Psychiatry also suggests policy levers that might help. The link: The researchers, from Columbia University, the University of Sydney and University College London, reviewed earlier data to discern the causes behind population-level mental health issues. “Childhood maltreatment accounted for a substantial proportion of mental health conditions,” the authors wrote. They estimated that some 21 percent of depression cases and 41 percent of suicide attempts were linked to childhood maltreatment. Why it matters: Government and school leaders — as well as doctors, therapists and parents — are looking for ways to reduce mental illness, especially in younger generations. The research suggests, as have children’s health experts, that one of the most powerful solutions is to focus on the conditions in which kids grow up and implement policy that improves those environments. “Policies to alleviate stress experienced by families, such as paid parental leave, affordable childcare, or income support, better enable parents to responsively attend to their children and show empirical support in reducing maltreatment exposure,” they wrote.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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