Congress eyes new rules for tech: What’s under consideration

WASHINGTON — Should TikTok be banned? Should younger children be prevented from engaging with social media? Can the government make sure private information is secure? What about brand new artificial intelligence interfaces? Or should users be regulating themselves, leaving the government out of it?

Tech regulation has been gathering momentum on Capitol Hill amid concerns about China’s ownership of TikTok and as parents are growing increasingly worried about the effects of social media on a post-pandemic mental health crisis. Noting that many young people are struggling, President Joe Biden said in his February State of the Union speech that “it’s time” to pass bipartisan legislation to impose stricter limits on the collection of personal data and ban targeted advertising to children.

“We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit,” Biden said.

Lawmakers have introduced a slew of bipartisan bills to regulate tech, and it’s one of the few major policy issues where Republicans and Democrats generally align, boosting hopes for compromise in a split Congress.

Still, any effort to take on the mammoth industry would face major obstacles. Technology companies have aggressively fought any federal interference, and they have operated for decades now without strict federal oversight, making any new rules or guidelines that much more complicated.

A look at some of the areas of potential regulation:

CHILDREN’S SAFETY

Several House and Senate bills would try to make social media, and the internet in general, safer for children who will inevitably be online. Lawmakers cite numerous examples of teenagers who have taken their own lives after cyber bullying or died engaging in dangerous behavior encouraged on social media.

In the Senate, at least two competing bills are focused on children’s online safety. Legislation by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., approved by the Senate Commerce Committee last year would require social media companies to be more transparent about their operations and enable child safety settings by default. Minors would have the option to disable addictive product features and algorithms that push certain content.

The idea, the senators say, is that platforms should be “safe by design.” The legislation, which Blumenthal and Blackburn reintroduced last week, would also obligate social media companies to prevent certain…