thevideoguy
Regular Member
- Sep 25, 2017
- 397
- 494
Ed Markey, the Democrat senator who wrote the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), has co-introduced a new bill that, if passed, would force platforms with users under the age of 16 to radically alter the way they operate.
“As children and teens increasingly spend their time on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat, Congress has yet to implement key safeguards that protect young people’s wellbeing in the current digital media environment,” Markey and fellow bill cowriter Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in a statement.
Markey added, “Powerful apps push kids to buy products at every turn online, and top platforms are saturated with disturbing content that no kid should ever be exposed to.”
If passed, their bill, the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, would force platforms to disable core features such as video autoplay, likes or upvotes, push notifications, and any feature that rewards young users with “badges or other visual award symbols based on elevated levels of engagement with the platform.” That last one is vague, but could potentially target YouTube’s Channel Memberships and Twitch subscriptions (which commonly reward special badges or emojis).
The KIDS Act would also make it illegal for platforms to recommend literally any kind of branded or sponsored content to users under the age of 16. In the bill, Markey and Blumenthal specifically accuse influencer marketing of “expos[ing] children to marketing that is inherently manipulative or purposely disguised as entertainment or other information.”
The KIDS Act wouldn’t force platforms like YouTube to remove unboxing videos, or sponsored content, or influencer marketing, but it would make it illegal for them to “direct” (recommend via algorithm) or “expose” (show at all?) these kinds of content to users under 16.
Source: James Hale, TubeFilter (https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/03/...ct-youtube-sponsored-content-unboxing-videos/)
KIDS Act: https://www.scribd.com/document/450477446/KIDS-Act-2020#from_embed
“As children and teens increasingly spend their time on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat, Congress has yet to implement key safeguards that protect young people’s wellbeing in the current digital media environment,” Markey and fellow bill cowriter Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in a statement.
Markey added, “Powerful apps push kids to buy products at every turn online, and top platforms are saturated with disturbing content that no kid should ever be exposed to.”
If passed, their bill, the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, would force platforms to disable core features such as video autoplay, likes or upvotes, push notifications, and any feature that rewards young users with “badges or other visual award symbols based on elevated levels of engagement with the platform.” That last one is vague, but could potentially target YouTube’s Channel Memberships and Twitch subscriptions (which commonly reward special badges or emojis).
The KIDS Act would also make it illegal for platforms to recommend literally any kind of branded or sponsored content to users under the age of 16. In the bill, Markey and Blumenthal specifically accuse influencer marketing of “expos[ing] children to marketing that is inherently manipulative or purposely disguised as entertainment or other information.”
The KIDS Act wouldn’t force platforms like YouTube to remove unboxing videos, or sponsored content, or influencer marketing, but it would make it illegal for them to “direct” (recommend via algorithm) or “expose” (show at all?) these kinds of content to users under 16.
Source: James Hale, TubeFilter (https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/03/...ct-youtube-sponsored-content-unboxing-videos/)
KIDS Act: https://www.scribd.com/document/450477446/KIDS-Act-2020#from_embed
