House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joined host Nicki Reisberg on the Scrolling 2 Death podcast. Chair Rodgers shared how the American Privacy Rights Act will give people the right to control their data and is foundational to protecting kids online. Highlights and excerpts from the interview below:

On the Importance of Protecting Kids Online:

“First and foremost, I am a mom. We have three kids. Our oldest is 17, Cole, and then we have girls that are 10 and 13.  

“Really, these Big Tech platforms have become my biggest fear. When you think about digital data, it’s deeply personal.  

“It's central to a person's identity, and right now these algorithms that have been developed by these companies are specifically designed, not just to get our kids addicted to the platforms and keep them on these platforms as long as possible, but it also leads to harms against our children.  

“A third of our teens right now say that they're almost constantly scrolling on some form of social media.

“I think that's why the name of your podcast is spot on, because, really, our kids are scrolling to death, and these platforms are intentionally targeting our children with addictive content that leads to dangerous, and too often, life-threatening behaviors.  

“Just recently, the Surgeon General of the United States of America talked about us having a loneliness epidemic.” 

[...]  

“What we're seeing is that this crisis is being driven because kids are spending more time online.  

“Whether it's you, Nikki, or for my husband and I, or millions of parents across the nation, it really is a battle for our kids' development, their mental health, and ultimately their safety. That's why we must build a better future for our children.  

“Our children are our future, and reining in Big Tech is a big part of what needs to happen to people, but especially our children, back in control of who they are, what they think, and how they live their lives.” 

On Demanding Accountability from Big Tech:

“Currently, Big Tech lacks accountability, and it's because they are immune from most civil liability because of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.  

“This is a law that was passed back in 1996. So, it was well before most of these companies even existed.  

“But, under Section 230, they were to moderate content that was illegal or illicit, and they were to be held accountable for that.  

“Unfortunately, the way that the courts have interpreted Section 230, they have become almost immune from any accountability and immune from liability because of illegal or illicit activity.  

“If you look in our society, other companies, other industries don't receive this kind of protection.  

“And Big Tech is using this law to shield them from any responsibility and accountability, as their platforms are involved in [causing] immense harm to people and especially our children. 

“The story that you just shared, unfortunately, is repeated over and over and over, and what is happening today is that these platforms and companies are profiting from children.  

“They're developing algorithms that are pushing harmful content to our kids.  

“They're refusing to strengthen their protections against bad actors, and we see more predators, more drug dealers, sex traffickers, extortionists, or cyber bullies, and it's our kids that are paying the price at the expense of their mental health.  

“So, what we need is a reset, and that's what the package of bills that we are moving forward right now is focused on.  

“We have the American Privacy Rights Act focused on creating a national standard [for] privacy [and] data security. 

“We also have legislation around Section 230 that would sunset Section 230 and give Big Tech a choice either to work with Congress to ensure the internet is a safe and healthy place or lose those liability protections.  

“This would ensure that the social media companies are being held accountable for failing to protect our kids online. We also have bills that are focused specifically on kids, KOSA and COPPA, which is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.  

“All of these bills are really focused on ushering in a new era on the internet, one that would be defined by individual control and free expression, prosperity, innovation, but most importantly, accountability and safety.” 

On the Path to Reform Section 230:

“We are continuing to move forward. The Section 230 bill is important, because, as you as you said, this is where the social media platforms are gaining this shield of immunity.  

“Right now, even though the law says that they are to be moderating content that is illegal or illicit, I have a constituent, Molly Cain, who lost her son when he bought a pill online. This was Snapchat. But it was an anti anxiety pill he thought he was buying. Instead, it was laced in fentanyl, and he died.  

“This type of a story where the tech company or the platform is not held accountable is repeated because of the way the courts have interpreted Section 230. So, what we're doing this week is moving forward on the legislation in the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been at the forefront of these issues for decades."  

[...] 

“The goal here is to force Congress to reform this bill by certain date or the tech companies will just lose their immunity. So, we're going to be moving these bills through subcommittee, and that's the first step. 

“Then they'll go to the Full Committee but [we’re] continuing to build support. It's really important that people that care about these issues are reaching out to Members on both sides of the aisle, right now, to voice their support for these bills.  

“We're taking on some of the largest companies in America right now. They have a lot of resources, and my hope is that it will be moms and parents and kids that have been harmed that really rise up all across this country to voice support.” 

On Limiting the Amount of Data Big Tech Can Collect:

“We're going to continue to take steps. These are very complicated issues.  

“As I mentioned, the Committee has been working on them for decades, but I really believe that now is the time that we have some solutions that have bipartisan support that we can get onto the President's desk. Congress needs to act. 

“We have the American Privacy Rights Act. That's foundational to protecting our kids online, as well as protecting all Americans online. This would set up a national privacy standard, as well as protecting data online in all 50 states for all ages. Fundamentally, it is built upon data minimization.  

“It just limits, from the very beginning, the amount of data that companies can collect, and this will restrict a company's ability to track, predict, and manipulate people for profit without their knowledge and consent.  

“In addition, it will strengthen protections for children when Big Tech is using this data to track and target our kids online by creating dangerous algorithms.” 

[...]

“The bill also gives individuals an ability to turn off targeted advertising. That is another way that companies track every aspect of our lives, like our location data, our clicks, our search history, and it would require companies to review their algorithms to ensure that they're not endangering children through malicious content, which we all see is leading to these downward spirals.  

“So, that's the American Privacy Rights Act. That's foundational, and then the kids bills complement this effort.  

“We have the [Kids] Online Safety Act (KOSA), and then COPPA. [...] We had one lady young lady who testified her name was Ava, and she shared her personal story. 

“It was really powerful to hear her talk about how they were collecting massive amounts of data on her. They were able to exploit her vulnerabilities. They understood her vulnerabilities, and then they targeted her through the ads, and they led her down this path that led to ads around bikinis and then it was exercise videos and then it was dieting tips.  

“Then, finally, she found herself with an eating disorder, and she was so grateful that she was able to break out of that, but she just shared that because of the amount of data they collected, they weaponized that data against her and really exploited her vulnerabilities.”  

On Working with the Senate and the White House to Pass Comprehensive Data Privacy:

“Senator Maria Cantwell is the Chairwoman in the Senate of the Commerce Committee. We're working together on the privacy bill.  

“There's been a lot of hearings, we've received a lot of feedback, and we continue to get input from Members and stakeholders, but I'm really encouraged by the support that we're hearing from, from Members and stakeholders on Capitol Hill, but also people all across the country.

“This really is the time for people to make their voices heard, and demand that Congress take action to protect our kids online.”