Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with 31 other state attorneys general, has urged Congressional leadership to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). This bipartisan legislation aims to protect children from online harm and address the growing crisis of youth mental health linked to social media use. Studies indicate that minors spend over five hours daily online.
Attorney General Skrmetti expressed concerns about social media companies prioritizing profits over children’s safety. While individual states have taken action against platforms like Meta and TikTok, there is strong support for the Senate’s bipartisan effort to provide federal enforcement partners with additional tools.
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The attorneys general highlighted several provisions within KOSA:
– Mandatory default safety settings: Platforms would be required to automatically enable their strongest safety protections for minors.
– Addiction prevention: The legislation would allow young users and their parents to disable manipulative design features that encourage endless scrolling.
– Parental empowerment: Parents would gain new tools to identify harmful behaviors and report dangerous content.
This call for federal legislation comes amidst ongoing investigations and lawsuits against major social media platforms for targeting underage users. The letter to Congressional leadership was signed by attorneys general from 31 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.
For more information, you can view the letter [here](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2024/kosa-letter.pdf).
Source: Read Original Release
Attorneys General Push for Stronger Robocall Rules
A group of 47 attorneys general, including Tennessee’s Jonathan Skrmetti, is urging the FCC to improve its Robocall Mitigation Database to prevent illegal robocalls. They propose measures like clarifying information requirements, setting deadlines, and penalizing false submissions to protect consumers. Skrmetti is involved in efforts to combat robocalls through the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. The coalition’s full letter is available online.