ParentsSOS Members Invite Mark Zuckerberg to Join Advocacy Fight
ParentsSOS was keen to point out Meta’s change in tone around KOSA given the fact that the company spent millions of dollars to block this legislation from moving forward.
STATEMENT: Survivor Parents Respond to Meta's Historic $17B Settlement
As survivor parents who have lost children to online harms, we are grateful for this watershed moment — the most significant accountability yet for Meta’s harmful and addictive design.
STATEMENT: Senate Commerce Advances the Kids Online Safety Act
The Senate version of KOSA is the most protective, popular, and bipartisan of all children’s online safety legislation under consideration. It provides an essential duty of care that will force online platforms to act in children’s best interests.
STATEMENT: Survivor Parents Applaud the Senate Commerce Committee’s Decision to Markup the Kids Online Safety Act
As parents who have lost children to online harms, we are glad to know that KOSA is scheduled for markup next week. We have championed this bipartisan bill for many years because its duty of care and safeguards are needed to prevent other children from dying as our own children did.
STATEMENT: ParentsSOS Responds to Passage of the KIDS Act
ParentsSOS welcomes this opportunity to move forward on discussions with House and Senate leaders on passing a strong version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) with a duty of care this year.
STATEMENT: The Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act (H.R. 7757)
The bipartisan package contains meaningful improvements that our members have advocated for, including provisions that protect states’ ability to issue stronger regulations and hold tech companies accountable for the presence of children and teens on their platforms.
Survivor Parents Welcome UK and Canada’s Desire to Protect Kids Online
“We welcome the desire of leaders from the UK and Canada to protect children and teens from online harms. It is a reminder of the growing global consensus that social media is simply not safe for our kids.”
Survivor parent issues statement ahead of Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing
“Parents are not asking for a free pass from parenting. We are asking for a fighting chance. KOSA gives us that chance. Pass it.”
Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz Promises to Pass KOSA through the Senate & Get it Signed into Law by End of Year
“We're going to pass [KOSA] out of the Commerce Committee, we're going to pass it in the Senate [again], and we are going to work hand-in-hand [with House leadership] to get it passed through the House and get it put on the President's desk and get it signed into law this year.” - Sen. Cruz (R-TX)
Meta & YouTube Held Liable in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial
Social media companies can no longer behave with such callous disregard for the health and well-being of their youngest users. Finally, they are being made to pay a price for their greed.
Survivor Parents Issue Statement in Light of Decision in Landmark New Mexico Social Media Trial
While $375 million in damages is only a morsel of the amount Meta should pay for the harms its platforms have caused to families and young people, we are relieved to see that the jury held Meta accountable for its failure to protect children from predators.
Statement on Landmark Social Media Addiction Trials
We believe there will be a reckoning for Mark Zuckerberg and his empty apology two years ago, and the courts will deliver some small measure of justice for families whose lives have been destroyed by Big Tech companies.
Survivor Parents Disappointed by Lack of Parent Voices on Federal Trade Commission Age Verification Workshop
We know better and more intimately than anyone in that room the true costs of the failure of Big Tech companies to protect children, and we have long driven the national conversation about online harms.
Artificial Intelligence Executive Order Will Cause More Life-Threatening Online Harms
As survivor parents, we have been devastated by stories of children dying by suicide after being encouraged by AI chatbots. We cannot let Big Tech companies experiment on our children and expand with impunity when their products are known to cause irreparable harm.
Survivor Parents Express Disappointment, Urge House to Advance Stronger, Bipartisan Version of KOSA
"We appreciate that the House and Energy & Commerce Committee has been willing to hear our concerns and that they are open to making changes between now and full Committee markup. But we must reiterate: if the House version of KOSA is not significantly strengthened, we will have no choice but to oppose it.”
Survivor Parents Express Disappointment in Hearing, Urge House E&C to Advance the Bipartisan Senate Version of KOSA
“We strongly urge the Committee to adopt and advance the Senate version of KOSA that retains the duty of care provision and allows state laws to provide an additional layer of protection.”
Survivor Parents ‘Deeply Disappointed’ in House Version of the Kids Online Safety Act, Urge Congress to Pass Senate Version
“After three years of meeting with legislators to share our families’ stories of loss and our legislative priorities, we are extremely disappointed that this bill doesn’t contain the ‘duty of care’ we asked for in every meeting and that the bill preempts the state laws that so many parents have worked tirelessly to pass.”
Survivor Parents Welcome New Legislative Action on AI Chatbots, Calling for Stricter Safeguards for Kids
We stand by the families who have been tragically affected by unsafe artificial intelligence chatbots and we appreciate the intent behind the GUARD Act, which is an important step in the right direction to prevent kids from experiencing harm online.
Survivor Parents Skewer OpenAI CEO for Harassing Family of Dead Teen
“It is unfathomable to us that a company that caused such loss and grief would be so cruel as to serve the grieving family a legal request to produce information about who attended their child’s funeral. It is a heartless move that demonstrates your company’s prioritization of profit and unchecked ambition over basic human decency.”
Suicide Prevention Means Tackling Online Harms with KOSA
McKenna left behind a note that read, “I’m sorry, I can’t take it anymore.” Those words echo in my mind every single day because they aren’t just McKenna’s words; they are the words of a generation of children overwhelmed by online harms and driven into mental despair. As parents, as families, and as a nation, we cannot look away.