US pushes for stricter social media rules to protect children

The United States is falling behind a growing list of countries—including Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Indonesia—that have imposed age limits on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Advocates point to the deaths of two teenagers, Alexander Neville and Carson Bride, who died after online harms, and to recent jury verdicts against Meta and Google that held the companies accountable for design choices that contributed to those harms.

In Washington, families and activists marked the sixth anniversary of the boys' deaths as Social Media Victims Remembrance Day, underscoring a broader movement for child‑online safety. The momentum helped bring a bipartisan deal to the House floor, the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act. The bill incorporates elements of the Senate‑passed Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) but has been criticized for omitting a “duty of care” provision that would require tech firms to take reasonable steps to prevent harm. Lawmakers continue to grapple with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields platforms from liability for user content, while seeking mechanisms to hold companies responsible for the way their services are designed.