Issue One applauds President Biden’s call for Congress to pass social media safeguards

In response to tonight’s State of the Union address, during which President Joe Biden defended democracy and called on Congress to pass bipartisan social media reforms to protect children online, Issue One released the following statement:

“The president is right: It’s time for Congress to take meaningful action now to protect kids online,” said Former House Majority Leader and Co-chair of Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media Dick Gephardt (D-MO). “The era of unaccountable Big Tech has torn countless families apart and has raised an entire generation of children to be addicted to their screens, all while padding their own pockets and fine-tuning algorithms that keep youth engaged, anxious, and depressed. Enough is enough. Republicans and Democrats in Congress agree with the overwhelming majority of the public who rightly believe that responsible social media safeguards are crucial in order to protect kids from harmful and manipulative content. That’s why the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) — which is already supported by a bipartisan supermajority in the Senate — must become the law of the land this year.”

“Left to their own devices, social media companies will consistently choose to maximize profits at all costs,” added Issue One Founder and CEO Nick Penniman. “That not only means robbing children of their social skills, human relationships, and childhood innocence, it will siphon them into polarized communities at startlingly young ages. Unless we take meaningful action now, our children will inherit a world where truth is indistinguishable from fiction and where democracy fades to the background, replaced with savvy authoritarian figures who will undermine the rule of law and ignore the will of the people. We cannot accept this outcome. It’s time to enact reasonable guardrails that will build a healthier information environment and form the bedrock for a stronger democracy.”

Learn more about the Council for Responsible Social Media and Issue One’s social media reform work.