WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following op-ed by Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, appeared in the Washington Post today. “The most popular social media platforms are constantly changing and reinventing themselves, but one challenge has remained consistent over three decades: Kids are at risk when they go online. “Anxiety, depression, loneliness and self-harm rates are sky-high among teens and children, demonstrating the dangerous effects of social media. “So, who is responsible for protecting America’s youth? Every adult should consider themselves on the hook for that, but those of us in Congress have a special obligation to hold tech companies accountable for the products they design. “That is why congressional Republicans are advancing meaningful legislation to protect kids, empower parents and guardians, and address the harms children and teens face online. “We can no longer stand by and wait for others to act. “We know progress can be made because we have already enacted a major piece of online safety legislation this Congress. Working alongside first lady Melania Trump, we passed — and President Donald Trump signed — the Take It Down Act, which targets the spread of sexually exploitative, nonconsensual AI-generated images. “While that is a good first step, it is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. As the internet continues to evolve, we know that no single action can address every challenge. What’s needed is a comprehensive approach that puts kids’ well-being and parental empowerment at the center of the digital world. “Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, a legislative package that will protect children and teens from online harms, empower parents and hold Big Tech accountable. “For starters, the Kids Act represents an improved version of the previously proposed Kids Online Safety Act, preserving the bill’s best ideas while addressing concerns about its constitutionality. After pairing the original proposal with additional measures to strengthen privacy, transparency and accountability across the online ecosystem, this version of the bill is stronger and more capable of surviving court challenges. “Second, the Kids Act limits access to online pornography for minors. For too long, online websites with adult content have relied on an honor system where every user is assumed to be an adult. We know that isn’t true. Children should not be accessing pornographic content. The Kids Act requires all websites that contain adult content to uphold this basic standard through age-verification measures — just as a brick-and-mortar storefront would. “Additionally, the act targets new internet threats, like artificial intelligence chatbots or predators using video game chat functions, head-on. Republicans are working to give parents the power to limit those communications as they see fit and to impose strict disclosure requirements on AI chatbots to prevent deceptive messaging. “Acknowledging that government alone cannot solve this problem, the Kids Act facilitates the development of partnerships among parents, experts and industry to address these challenges and others sure to develop. New educational efforts will help empower a generation of parents to diagnose and respond to digital threats. “Nevertheless, the Kids Act is not the end of our work. “The committee also advanced the App Store Accountability Act this week. Unfortunately, smartphones often operate as a hidden layer between children and parents, as kids download apps and buy digital goods without a parent’s permission. Instead of relying on another honor system, the App Store Accountability Act creates a simple, private and secure process to verify users’ ages and require kids to first obtain a parent’s permission. It leverages modern technology to put apps on notice that they are dealing with children and teens and, thus, have heightened safety obligations. “Another bill we are working on, known as COPPA 2.0, would modernize kids’ privacy protections that are already on the books. “Until now, 13 has been treated as the age of digital adulthood, a relic of the internet’s early days when Congress enacted the original Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in 1998. Back then, we never could have imagined how things would develop. Extended privacy protections for teens and a ban on targeted advertising to kids are long overdue. “Collectively, these bills form a commonsense, comprehensive package designed to make the internet safer for kids. But this is not an academic exercise. “This work is personal. Some of the loudest, most courageous advocates for reform are parents who have lost children due to online harms. Every member of our committee represents families who have endured unimaginable grief. They deserve more than gestures and idle promises. They deserve laws that work. “We cannot rely on Big Tech companies that refuse to take responsibility for the products they put into the world. They’ve had years to self-regulate, and they have failed. Now it’s time for Congress to act. “By advancing this package of bills, we are one step closer to putting American families back on solid footing to make the best decisions about their digital well-being.” ###