Colorado and Pennsylvania attorneys general urge Congress to enact legislation to oversee and regulate social media companies

Oct. 7, 2021 (DENVER)—In the wake of U.S. Senate hearings about social media and risks to our nation’s youth, Attorneys General Phil Weiser of Colorado and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania are urging Congress to explore legislation that would create a comprehensive framework to oversee and regulate the conduct of major social media companies.

“It is clear—from your hearings, academic research, and recent investigative reporting—that social media companies and their platforms have a unique ability to harm both the mental health of youth and the stability of our democratic institutions,” Attorneys General Weiser and Shapiro state in their letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security in the U.S. Senate. “Protecting our children, our democracy, our privacy, and competition are critical priorities and are worthy of congressional action.”

Weiser and Shapiro encourage the subcommittee and Congress to evaluate the following priorities in working to establish responsible oversight of social media platforms:

• Developing a comprehensive and unbiased understanding of the problems and hazards caused by social media platforms, including further research and discussion on how algorithms operate and impact users;
• Enacting a regulatory framework that addresses risks posed by social media on children, including the oversight of advertising decisions, requirements for appropriate transparency, and effective age verification and parental consent; and,
• Providing a regulatory agency with the necessary authority to take appropriate action to protect consumer privacy, safeguard competition in the online world, and address the risks to kids and our democratic institutions, including strengthening tools to limit disinformation and combat online hate speech.

The letter to the subcommittee can be found here.

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