There is no doubt that our country is facing a growing mental health crisis and a rising culture of violence. Social media is a key contributor to that decline. As one of the only Republican moms of school-aged kids in the Senate, protecting children from the harmful impacts of social media and empowering families with resources is a top priority for Senator Britt. She is the lead sponsor of the bipartisan Kids Off Social Media Act that would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media companies from feeding algorithmically-targeted content to users under the age of 17. In the 119th Congress, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and a co-lead, selected the bill as the first legislative markup, showcasing Senate Republicans’ continued commitment to addressing the threat of Big Tech. Additionally, Senator Britt leads the Stop the Scroll Act alongside Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.), which would create a mental health warning label requirement for social media platforms.
When Senator Britt took office, she pledged to be a voice for the voiceless. She has taken several steps to protect children from sexual exploitation, including through her sponsorship of the Terminating Restrictive Enforcement of Youth Settlements (TREY’S) Law. The bill voids non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that silence survivors of child sexual abuse and aims to prevent tragedies like Trey Carlock’s from happening ever again.
Senator Britt has also been a leading voice on examining some of the harms of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, particularly when it comes to adolescent usage. She is the proud cosponsor of the Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act to ban the use of so-called AI “companions” by minors, mandate AI chatbots disclose their non-human status, and establish criminal liability for companies that design or develop chatbots to solicit or induce minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct or to create depictions of such conduct. She believes that AI companies have a responsibility to put up proper guardrails to protect minors on their platforms. Senator Britt also continues to call on leading AI companies to improve transparency around the capabilities of their models and the risks they pose to users.
In the age of social media and the challenges that come with it, Senator Britt believes Congress must take steps towards protecting our children online by ensuring parents have access to the necessary tools to keep their children safe. She is proud to co-lead bipartisan legislation, Sammy’s Law, to empower parents to protect their children on social media platforms by providing them with the tools to know if their children are engaging in dangerous or risky interactions online.
Senator Britt has also been a leader on protecting children from the potentially addictive and detrimental effects of online sports gambling. She will continue to work with her colleagues and the Trump Administration to take robust action on illegal offshore gaming operations targeting minors.
Senator Britt is proud to lead the charge on reining in Big Tech and social media platforms to ensure our children and teams are safe online and has worked diligently to enact commonsense, age-appropriate solutions needed to tackle this generational challenge.