Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, April 27 (Xinhua) lawmakers from both parties in the United States have jointly introduced a new bill aimed at protecting minors from the adverse effects of social media. The bill requires any user under the age of 18 to obtain parental consent when using a social media platform. In addition, the bill prohibits social media platforms from using algorithms to push content to minors and sets the minimum age for using social media to be 13. The bill will also create a new pilot program for age verification credentials so that users can provide highly secure identification based on government-issued documents when registering for social media platforms.

CTOnews.com noted that the new law was introduced in the context of similar actions being taken by American states. Some state laws, such as one in Utah, will allow parents to access their children's private information, raising concerns among some civil society that this may put children at greater risk depending on their family situation. The new bill, backed by senators Brian Schatz (Democratic Hawaii), Tom Cotton (Republican Arkansas), Chris Murphy (Democratic Connecticut) and Katie Britt (Republican Alabama), will give parents across the country deep control over their children's use of social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Many parents have pleaded with lawmakers to provide them with more tools to keep their children safe online. Although some people think that parents are too burdened to monitor uncontrollable platforms.

In addition to the fact that children's use of social media requires parents to share the accident, the bill also requires companies to "take reasonable measures" to verify the age of users, not just proof. This may raise privacy concerns because it is difficult to confirm the age of users without some kind of government ID card or facial scan. The bill states that "existing age verification techniques" should be taken into account and that information collected for age verification should not be used for other purposes. Although age verification tools are still limited, the bill also aims to expand them through a pilot program to explore free "secure digital identity" credentials for U. S. citizens. The project, run by the Ministry of Commerce, will seek to create a new, highly secure credential tool based on government-issued documents that, once issued, can be used to verify the age of users who have signed up for social media platforms, or their relationship with the parents / guardians of underage users.

As soon as the bill was announced, it was immediately attacked by NetChoice, an industry group with a technology background. The group, which has sued California for age-appropriate design regulations, said in a statement that the bill "will require large-scale and extensive collection and retention of data, undermining the privacy and security of Americans. It will also deprive parents of their constitutional rights, preventing them from deciding what is best for their children online."

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.