Legislation passed last week by the U.S. Senate would set a number of restrictions on social media activity in an effort to protect the well-being of children. But the proposal—which prohibits social media companies from showing minors content that promotes alcohol, tobacco, drugs or gambling—also raises free speech and privacy concerns and could end up muzzling online drug policy reform activism, advocates say.
Senators passed S. 2073, the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, on a 91–3 vote on Tuesday. If it becomes law, it would make social media platforms responsible for ensuring that the advertisement, marketing or promotion of drugs, alcohol, tobacco or gambling does not reach “minors,” defined in the bill as people “under the age of 17.”
Despite the Senate’s overwhelming approval of the bill, however, some advocates warn that the proposed change will cause platforms to overly restrict speech, censor political advocacy, limit access to educational information and potentially impose age-verifications that put patient and consumer privacy at risk.
Jenna Leventoff, ACLU’s senior policy council and director of the civil right’s group’s national political advocacy division, believes the legislation, which she referred to by the acronym KOSA, is likely unconstitutional. She wrote a blog post arguing
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