We Can Do More to Prevent Cyberbullying

Bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act Will Give Parents Tools for a Safer Online Environment

Feature article from The Engage Reader III

by Maurine Molak

If you grew up before instant messaging and smartphones like I did, when you went home, the schoolyard bullies did, too. There was a bit of solace in your room or at the dinner table. But with near-constant access to the internet, children today face a different reality. 

Cyberbullying leaves children with no refuge. Against this onslaught, even the loving words of a big brother or the arms of present parents are no comfort.

I know this from lived experience. My son David, an Eagle Scout, avid sports fan, and outdoor adventurer, took his own life at 16 after being bullied on social media and through messaging apps. The night before he died, my older son, Chris, tried to comfort him. Chris’s words did not match the cacophony of hate vibrating around David. 

With nearly continuous access to the internet, children today have no refuge. In fact, nearly half of teens who responded to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey said they had experienced cyberbullying, which ranges from sharing false rumors and unwanted explicit images to physical threats and offensive name-calling. 

Thousands of other parents and siblings know this pain. With 19 other families, I co-founded Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS) with Josh Golin, Executive Director of Fairplay. ParentsSOS is an education initiative that advocates for a federal law called the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), designed to protect children from cyberbullying and other online harms. 

Champions like Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the authors of the Kids Online Safety Act, introduced KOSA after hearing firsthand, through five heart-wrenching hearings, the consequences of tech companies’ failure to keep our children safe online. 

When my son passed away in 2016, few people were talking about the potential negative effects of children’s internet use. If any conversations were happening, they held parents fully responsible for any potential harm. In part, because of these two senators’ focus, Americans are now better educated. We understand technology’s role in fueling anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, body image issues, and bullying. 

We also now understand we can prevent at least some of this harm.  

After being introduced in 2022, KOSA was nearly added to an omnibus spending bill late that year but was nixed at the last minute due to heavy lobbying from the tech industry and allegations raised by privacy and human rights advocates. KOSA was strengthened in early 2024 to better address these ongoing concerns. With the support of more than two-thirds of the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) brought it before the full Senate for a vote at the end of July and it passed 91-3. A House companion bill is gaining traction. 

I know the harm rumors and rhetoric can do, so it is important for me to correct some of the myths about KOSA. The bill, for example, does not require social media companies to take down certain content, nor does it make online platforms liable for the content they host or choose to remove. KOSA also does not require the disclosure of private information, such as browsing history, messages, or friend lists, to parents or anyone else.

What the bill actually does is offer young people and parents the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to have more control over online experiences and what content they engage with. Specifically, KOSA requires social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations. It also requires platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings for kids by default.

View the full issue of The Engage Reader III

The bill creates a duty of care for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harms to minors, including promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation. 

It also requires social media platforms to perform annual independent audits that assess risks to minors and whether the
platform is taking meaningful steps to prevent those harms.

A November 2023 poll released by Fairplay found nearly 9 in 10 Americans support KOSA. 

With the broad bipartisan support that led to its recent Senate passage, we will now turn our full attention to the House. While it is frustrating not to make it to the finish line yet, I have to say, the opposition from social media firms has only made our ParentsSOS families more determined. We know we are not alone. We have heard from hundreds of moms and dads who are afraid to advocate publicly and potentially retraumatize their children who have survived cyberbullying and other online harms. 

More than ever, we are certain something needs to be done. 

I think more lawmakers now feel that way, too. It is remarkable the shift we see when we go into lawmakers’ offices to discuss KOSA. There is not a policymaker or staffer on Capitol Hill who does not have a son or daughter, niece or nephew, or grandchild they want to protect. When we share our stories, politicians turn into people.

This genuine feeling and support from lawmakers ranging from Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), a Democrat from Brooklyn, to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a Republican from my home state and the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, is why I believe KOSA will soon become law. These lawmakers know the pain I have felt is preventable. 

As a parent, all you want to do is protect your children. When it comes to online safety, many of us have tried our absolute best, but even our best will not be good enough until technology companies live by basic rules that will help keep bullies at bay. I encourage anyone who cares for a child to call their Senators and House members to ask that they support this wise legislation. It has been 25 years since Congress has passed any laws to reign in Big Tech when it comes to protecting kids online. Now is the time. 

No mother or father should have to bury their child. No brother or sister should feel like their loving words are no match for bullies that lurk, faceless and sometimes nameless, online. The Kids Online Safety Act will not stop every bully, but it will help more children find solace from them.