Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in advance of today’s consideration of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). The following statement can be attributed to TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore:
“Protecting the mental health and security of children online is a top priority for the technology industry and something our member companies take seriously.
“Platforms continue to innovate and launch new tools, features, and policies that are tailored to the differing developmental needs of young people, moderate and remove harmful and illegal content, limit unwanted interactions, set time limits and exceptions, and protect child users, all while providing a safe, informative, and entertaining experience online. These settings and tools empower parents to manage and supervise their children’s digital well-being in a manner that is age-appropriate and tailored to their child’s individual needs.
“We applaud Congress’ efforts to examine ways to make the internet healthier and safer for children. KOSA and COPPA 2.0 are well intentioned but need further refinements, as outlined in our letter, to achieve our shared goal of protecting children online. Legislation must strike the right balance between protecting children from specified types of harmful content while ensuring that restrictions do not unduly burden lawful speech protected by the First Amendment or infringe on access to information for all users.
“To protect the data and privacy of all Americans, Congress should pass a federal data privacy law that ensures everyone, no matter their age or where they live, has the right to access, correct, and delete their data, mitigates abusive lawsuits against small businesses, and provides companies certainty about their responsibilities so they can spend their resources on creating jobs rather than paying legal bills.”
To learn how TechNet’s member companies are protecting children online, go here.
To read our letter to the Committee, go here.